Pasta Anyone?

Penne Pasta has arrived. She leaped out of the van and took a look around. Koo ran right over and, being the gentleman he is, jumped right on and tried to molest the poor girl. She didn't seem too phased by him but we put Penne in with the goats and left Koo in his pasture. They can get used to each other for a while. Koo has not seen another llama in 5 years. He couldn't believe his eyes. Once again I forgot my camera for a minute and missed a few good photo opportunities.

Kate, the llama gal, was very kind to give her a ride and we had a pleasant time chatting about llamas. She gave me lots of good tips for trimming toes and caring for llamas. She even gave me a lesson in nail trimming that Penne stood quite still for:) And wouldn't you know....Koo is a little overweight. We have a problem here. I enjoy feeding animals , and they enjoying eating. A perfect combination for a chubby farmyard. Well at least it won't cost me any more to have another llama. I will give her half of Koo's.

Here are a few pictures I did manage to take after I came to my senses and got the camera.

Koo and Penne get acquainted

Kate, Penne and the goats get acquainted

One thing that has me worried though, I noticed that Penne LOVES to eat. And remember what I said about me.

Picking up Chicks

Every day this week I have been calling the feed store. "Are the chicks in yet?"
"No not yet," replied Tom. Thursday I called and Tom said Friday was the day. He was expecting Buff Orpingtons, Aracaunas, Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks. I asked him to hold some for me but he wouldn't do it. Against store policy. I had to come in. I was a bit nervous because I knew everyone is waiting for the first arrival of chicks and they were having a sale. I pictured myself getting there after work and only having a few to pick from. You see I need to get chicks now if I am going to get them in and out of the brooder in time for my trip in May. I don't want my neighbor, who takes care of my animals, to have to mess with the brooder. So I called about noon today and checked.
"Are the chicks in?"
Can't you hear them cheeping?" asked Tom. And yes it was a cacophony of chick sounds in the background. I said "Please can you hold some for me?"
"No can't do that" said Tom.
Well now I am getting nervous because I want my chicks. I am not good at waiting. So right after recess I take off for the feed store. When I get there, there is certainly a few people getting chicks but they had plenty.........just not any Buff Orpingtons, my first choice. They didn't hatch yet. But, I was like a kid in a candy store. There were lots of stock tanks full of different kinds of poultry. I meant to only get about 6 but couldn't stop. I took home 6 Aracaunas, 4 Silver Laced Wyandottes and, just because, a Black Star and a Red Star.
They are in the brooder now looking as cute as cute can be although one of the Wyandottes is suspiciously different from her sisters and I am suspecting I got a banty by mistake.
I tried to pick out different color Aracaunas because I know from experience that the lighter one lay the pink eggs and the darker ones lay the green eggs. So I got three of each. They already have cute little earmuffs over their ears. I still have 3 Light Brahmas and 3 Speckled Sussex coming from my neighbor's order. He is waiting until the hatchery isn't so busy. The minimum order is 25 so he is throwing mine in with his. They will probably arrive just as I leave for vacation. If so I'm sure he will keep them for me until I get back. I should have quite a colorful bunch of biddies.
I just love having babies in the house.......yes in the house.

update....it appears my Aracaunas are Americaunas and my odd colored chick is a Golden Laced Wyandotte. My neighbor came back from the feedstore and clued me in. Apparently there were some Golden Laced in with the Silver Laced. Lucky me!

Spring Fever

Winter has turned the corner, here in the Pacific Northwest, and spring is on the way. I can hear it in the trees. Birds singing and chirping everywhere. The grass is starting to grow and I swear I heard a lawnmower today. It is time for a little spring cleaning. We cleaned out the boys' pen and spread all that good stuff on the field. It will turn into lush grass before you know it. All the goats got wormed, a good brushing and their feet trimmed. That is always a back breaker and the older I get the more breaks in between goats I take. The tin snips gone hoof trimmers made the job a lot easier.
Koo got his nails trimmed and a thorough brushing in preparation for meeting his new friend, Penne, next Saturday. Yes, if all goes well Penne will be in my pasture by Saturday afternoon. I hope this works out. Little does Koo know that his spring will become much more interesting, to say the least.
I tried to coax "The Ladies" into the new hen house but those chickens are smarter than we give them credit for. I decided to put them in there because I have yet to find any young laying hens and "The Ladies" are hiding their eggs from me. I will just try again in the morning when they are good and hungry.
Now I am just waiting for the forsythia to bloom, then spring will truly be here.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle...Revisited

I have finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and for the second time Barbara Kingsolver has changed my way of thinking. I wonder if she knows what an impact her writing has on people's lives? The first time was when I read Poisonwood Bible, for reasons I won't go into, and now with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I found it a very enjoyable read. It is full of facts on food and stories about her adventures eating locally for a year. I must admit I didn't like her husband and daughter's parts in the book. Neither have her wordsmith abilities and I found them downright boring and skipped over them just to get back to Barbara. I plan on reading the book again so maybe will give them another try.

I have really taken this eating locally to heart. I am now buying much more local food like milk, cheeses, potatoes and anything else I could find. But I was on a mission to find locally grown, organic beef. A few years ago, I read an article in our local paper about a family that raised organic beef in a small town nearby called Home. Yes, Home, Washington. Isn't that quaint?

I was interested then but never did anything about it until now and now I couldn't find their phone number. But in the mail the other day was a community ad flyer and there they were Everett Family Farm. Dean Everett and his family raise Reg. Red Poll cattle on their farm in Home and sell organic, humanely raised, USDA inspected beef. I went to his shop in town and met this white haired, sightly absentminded friendly guy that I was happy to give my business to. I bought the Family Pack and brought it home to my freezer took out 2 T-bone steaks and barbecued them up for my Doubting Thomas. They were the best steaks I have had anywhere, anytime, anyhow! Doubting Thomas ate his words right along with his sauteed onions.

It feels great doing my part in reducing my carbon footprint and supporting my local farmers. And in the bargain I get healthier better tasting food.

I wonder what else Barbara will talk me into.

Koo's Surprise

For a year or so we have been casually looking for a companion for Koo. I have called on a few but it hasn't been the right situation. Usually there are two that need a home and I didn't want to take on two and have Koo be odd llama out. We even decided we really didn't need another llama.

While cruising around on craigslist I saw the most beautiful llama I had ever seen. He was the color of a calico kitty. Bright splotches of distinct colors all over his body. I could just picture him in my pasture. I emailed right away. Unfortunately I emailed from school and it didn't go through. Apparently the powers that be decided that llama shopping was not an appropriate use of the school computer. By the time I got an email through he was gone. His owner said she had some lovely babies coming up but they were well bred and would be a whole lot more. I kindly declined since we are not interested in breeding or fiber and wanted to wait for one that just needed a home. She said she would pass my name along.

Enter...Kate the llama gal. She got my name from someone and emailed me with a name of a lady that had a llama that needed a home.

Enter...LeeAnna the Alpaca lady that got the llama to guard the alpacas.

Enter....Chilean's Penne Pasta an 11 year old spayed female llama that doesn't give a rip about guarding alpacas. Her story goes like this........

Penne, as her friends call her, was a lovely show llama making a name for herself in the llama world. She was bred and produced her first cria. Unfortunately the cria was deformed in some way. I was told what it had but have forgotten. Anyway because of the chance of this happening again Penne was promptly spayed and put out to pasture, so to speak. She was bought by someone and put in with goats. I am told she loved her goats. Thinking she would guard alpacas too she was bought by LeeAnna to guard her herd of 25 pregnant alpacas. Penne has failed at this job. She thinks those alpacas can just look after themselves while she is over eating all their hay. Now because they are pregnant they are free fed 24/7, so Penne helps herself 24/7. She is getting fatter and the alpacas aren't getting as much as they need. LeeAnna is looking for a home for Penne and thinks we would fit the bill. We have goats and we don't, heaven forbid, free feed.

Enter.....The Problem....Penne is on Whidbey Island, a long drive, plus a ferry ride away. I was told that Penne could ride in my mini van with the back seats out. I was also told, at all costs, to avoid taking a trailer on the ferry. We were all set to make the journey to the island to get her when the van started acting up. It was time for a new car and I didn't want another mini van. Those days are over! I traded my van in on a cute Jeep Liberty with no room for a cushing llama. I felt bad but could not wait on getting a vehicle for a llama. I emailed LeeAnna and told her I had sold my van. Her van was broke down too. We tried to come up with an alternative method but it was involving renting something and was all too complicated. I don't do complicated. So it looked like Penne was staying on the island.

Enter again.....Kate the llama gal, who's motto is, We LOVE happy llamas, and we love happy llama owners. She has volunteered her time to give Penne a ride to my place. What a gal. If everything goes as planned Penne will be here on March 8th or 9th.

Wonder what Koo will think?

Letting Nature Take It's Course

Ruckus is starting to notice the girls..............

But this is what the girls think of him...........

Let's Hear It For The Boys

There are three wethers that call our small farm home. Moly, the pygmy that came to stay when his pasture mate died and Rowdy and Riot, the first Nigerian babies I had and couldn't part with. They were so tiny and precious. The neighbor made me an offer but I refused. They have grown to be much larger than any self respecting Nigerian should be and eat more than their fair share. But will follow you anywhere, and stick their noses into all of your business. I am glad that they stayed.

I feel a bit sorry for the wether in general. The by product of goat raising that people buy as pets and then lose interest in a few years later. I see a lot of them advertised lately. They always say "good home only, not for meat"

I know a lady that raises goats for meat. We talked about selling the babies for meat and she said that she felt better about selling the wethers for meat because they had a good life up until that point and so many wethers live terrible lives and are passed around. I got her point.
I remember a Saanen wether, at my brother-in-law's farm, that was tied to a tire. He was hired out to eat blackberries. So he spent all day tied to a tire that he had to drag around. Then off to the next farm. Poor Buster.

No worries. We have our share of useless males around here.

There is Rowdy.......black and white belted boy with a couple of snaggle horns. Good dehorn gone bad. He's the snoopy one. Always has to have his nose between the hammer and the nail.

There is Riot......because he is a riot of color. He has always been a bit standoffish. As a baby I did the TTellington Touch on him. Anyone heard of that? Well it worked wonders. He now enjoys being touched.

Then there is Moly................Saint Moly as he is known here. You will not find a sweeter goat. He is in touch with his feminine side. See the earrings? What a place for wattles!

And Koo (not a wether but the llama version of one)............tall and stately but runs at the sight of a pig. What will he do to a coyote? Heaven only knows.

So let's hear it for the boys. They just want to be loved........is that so wrong?

Never Leave a Chihuahua Unattended

The day was bright and sunny. We were off to get hay with Stormy in the backseat and Solomon in the front. With a quick stop for a mocha latte , one with whip one without, and two dog biscuits, we were on our way. We pulled into our friendly neighborhood drive thru feed store and were met with candy bars and two more dog biscuits. We loaded the hay and were on our way. There is nothing a goatgirl likes better than riding in a truck with her honey, two dogs, a mocha latte and a load of hay in the back. Pure heaven.
We get home and I jump out to open the gate. Hubby drives through and jumps out by the large cedar tree and ducks behind it. Seems the large mocha latte was taking effect. As he stood behind the tree taking care of business he heard a familiar click. He knew that was the sound of the door of his truck.....locking. He came around the tree to find Solomon, grinning from ear to ear, standing on the lock button. Engine running and all of our keys, mine included, in the truck.
We spent the next ten minutes trying to get him to step on the button and unlock it. If you held a leaf or stick up to the window in just the right spot he would come over to look and would walk on the button. He just relocked it about 10 times and then got bored and jumped up on the console, turned around twice and laid down. I decided to run over to my neighbor's house and get my house key that she keeps and get in the house. I knew I had a keyless entry for the truck in there.
But by the time I got back the truck was parked by the hay shed ready to unload. Seems Hubby did get Solomon to stand on the window button, and once triggered, unrolled the window. What a guy. What a dog.
It was a perfect day.

Chicken Shopping

The chicken coop is ready. It's clean and waiting for the new hens to make themselves at home. Trouble is there are no hens to be found. I decided I wanted to get young hens and not raise chicks. It would take too long to start getting eggs. The two banty hens "The Ladies" are laying but I need more eggs than two wee eggs a day. Especially since I have people asking for eggs and my plan is to sell enough eggs to pay for their feed. A student at school's mother has been asking me, for the longest time, if I am ready for some hens. I told her the coop wasn't ready because Hubby filled that great space with firewood. Last weekend we got the wood out and I body blocked the entrance so Hubby couldn't fill that great space back up with wood. I called her and said I was ready for the hens and, wouldn't you know, she doesn't have any ready. Her husband sent a chick catolog over and said he was doing an order and I could add to it.
Wow, chicken overload. I have never seen so many interesting chickens. I wanted three of this and three of that. It was hard not to go chicken wild. I decided I wanted a rare, old breed, a heavy breed that does well in the cold, a calm friendly chicken and was pretty to look at. The chickens have a rating like, Recovering, Endangered, Threatened etc. So then of course I wanted to choose a threatened hen.
I chose....drum roll please...

The Light Brahma..........

and the Speckled Sussex......

I don't know why I chose these, they caught my eye and fit all my criteria, but so did many others. If I was going to order chicks I wanted something unusual. I like the idea of using old breeds and the Speckled Sussex is very old. So we shall see. In the meantime, I will look for some young hens close by. I would still like a few Araucanas and Buff Orpingtons. I don't like to have to wait but someone once told me that an intelligent person can delay gratification so I'm working on that.

Animal Update

Not much happening around here. Nothing new. It has caused a bit of writer's block. My mom called tonight and asked, like she always does, "What's new?" We always laugh then because we can't think of a darn thing. It's winter and cold. I have lots of things I could do but don't. I am sitting by the woodstove, with Chihuahua in my lap, knitting and watching a lot of T.V.
I am knitting a bag for the girlfriend. It is the same wool that I used for her hat. It has llama in it and is so wonderful to knit with, soft and smooth like butter, and then when felted the llama fiber sticks out a bit. It's a belated birthday gift because it is taking me so long to knit it.

The diet seems to be working with the goat herd. Lexi is much thinner and down to a perfect weight. Semi Sweet is still a bit portly but headed in the right direction. She has been so busy looking for a husband the last few months that she is driving us, and the other goats, crazy. Ruckus is still such a baby. He is starting to get the idea but is going to need a step ladder to do anything about it. I would really like it to happen so I can get babies, at this point, by late summer.
I have been working on getting his papers in order and it looks like those are on the way. I was getting in a bit of a panic because I'm a paperwork kind of girl. I like to keep track of the paperwork and rarely lose anything. But it is sometimes a lesson in patience trying to wade through all the rules and regulations of registrations when more than one person is involved. So Ruckus is now registered, officially, but "It's in the mail."

The pig sisters are recovering from a bout of....gasp....sarcoptic mange. Sounds terrible and I feel great shame when I say it but it's true. My pigs had mange. I have no idea how they came to get it but get it they did. I started to notice that their little feet were red and bumpy like an allergic reaction. I thought they were allergic to something. I tried everything. Then they started to lose their hair. That's not good when it's down in the 20's & 30's at night. So I did what every modern farmer does and emailed a pig lady in Bakersfield.
She said "Mange"
I said "Yuck!"
But it is easy enough to cure. Just worm with Ivermectin. I even had some on hand. I put it in a hollowed out banana and threw a piece to each girl. Daphne inhaled hers. Fiona inhaled hers also but promptly spit it out and nosed it around. She was just getting ready to leave it when Daphne came around the corner, ready to steal it, and Fiona snatched it up and choked it down. I needed to follow it up with another dose a few weeks later. I had to hide it in an apple this time because you can't fool a pig twice.
I am starting to see the slightest bit of stiff fuzz coming back on the girls' brow so I am hoping we are over our embarassing problem.

The ladies have started laying again and are laying under the llama manger. Easy to find. I almost have the wood cleared out of the shed that I will put my new hens in. It was made for pheasants when hubby raised his own birds and is secure. Even the floor has wire so nothing can dig up through. We have had that problem before with my son's homing pigeons. He had racing homers he loved so much he wouldn't take them out and let them race because he was afraid he wouldn't get them back. One morning he went out to feed them and something had dug under and killed every one of his beloved birds. Even the babies in the nests were headless. That was one sad boy.

Then there is Koo. He is so regal and has many admirers. Koo likes to stand out by the road and people stop and look at him. I have started to see small bits of apple left on the fence for him. I am sure they are left by an old couple that walks every day. I would like to get another llama but haven't found the right one. I always seem to come across a road block. I found a female that's perfect but she is a ways away and involves a ferry ride. It was getting too complicated so I passed. I hope to find one a little closer.
He doesn't seem to mind his life in the meantime.

Me too, I don't mind my life at all.

7 Things You May Or May Not Know About Me

Six months ago I didn't even know what a blog was and now I am playing blog tag. So I have been tagged and am suppose to tell you 7 things you don't know about me. The problem is I don't know anyone to tag in return and am challenged computer wise so the game stops with me. Sorry.
So here goes..........
1. I'm tall
2. I like anything green
3. I hate noise
4. I married my high school sweetheart
5. I train dogs and taught clicker training
6. I'm low maintanance
7. I had lunch with Ozzy Osbourne
So now I got your attention.

Back to you DCV http://journeyinyourdreams.blogspot.com/

This Dog Hunts

My dad, the avid hunter, called one day. Seems he wanted to get a dog from this great field dog breeding and asked if he got it would I train it for the first 6 months for him. I said "Sure Dad." How hard could it be?
We went to go pick her up on the hottest day of the year. I was trying to pick out a black puppy in 98 degree weather. I ended up taking home the smallest, cutest one of the bunch. Really it was the only one that crawled out from under the bush long enough to follow me around. That should have been my first clue.
This dog had energy.

My dad named her Belle after his mother. She came home with me and within a week I called Dad and said "Belle just doesn't fit, How about Stormy?" So she became Camano Island Perfect Storm.

Stormy is turbo powered. She does everything full tilt. She is small and compact with a beautiful sleek coat that begs to be touched. After 6 months of socializing, training and starting on birds she went into field dog training. She was called a once in a lifetime dog by the trainer. Dad and I had fun taking her to trainings and hunt tests where Stormy quickly earned her Jr. Hunter title. I will forever remember this special time with my dad. But then the training got hard and intense and we weren't comfortable with it so we brought her home to just be a dog.

Stormy came back to my house, and taught my husband how to hunt birds. My hubby was not a hunter. He was an expert marksman but didn't kill anything and has been know to, on a hunting trip with above said dad, say "Shoo Shoo" to a deer coming over the hill because it looked too much like his wife's goats. So when Stormy came back here my dad gave hubby a shotgun. Hubby said "Why not?" and went out with his dog and right into a new passion.
It is as old as time. Early morning, wandering the field with your best friend and bringing home dinner. Stormy has brought dinner home 18 times this year and is doing her part providing locally grown food.

Now that's a once in a lifetime dog.

Food for Thought

I am well into "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and it causing me to think a lot about things I have never thought about before. First of all, I was off to a bad start when I sat down to read it, for the first time, while stuffing my face with a GREEK pizza. I quickly rationalized it by telling myself that at least it came from a locally owned pizza parlor and not from Dominoes. I had never thought about the carbon footprint of the food brought in from other states let alone another country. I feel overwhelmed at the daunting task of eating locally. My principal at the school I am at is reading "Omnivore's Dilemma" so we have had some lively lunchroom discussions about the food industry. The books sound a bit similar and he is going to lend me his book but doesn't really want to read anymore about it so doesn't want mine but that's OK. I have lent him books before and it takes forever for him to get them back to me. Anyway,we both are going to try to make an effort to buy more local food. I have worked out a deal with him.......I am going to trade him eggs for WINE! What a deal.
So with all this information floating around in my head I head to Albertson's to do my shopping like I have a billion times before. I know, I know this isn't at all what Barbara had in mind but it's hard to eat locally when it's the middle of winter. I was pleased to find many locally made or grown items by just reading the labels and sticking to brands that I know came from family owned farms. I was stretching a bit, OK a lot, when I chose carrots grown in Bakersfield because my son's girlfriend is from there. My hubby, who is not quite on board with this, rolled his eyes. I also found potatoes grown in a town not too far from here. Needless to say though, my cart mostly contained food that had quite a huge footprint. Well, Rome wasn't built in a day and I have to start somewhere. I am starting by just being aware and doing what small things I can and building on that. I am inspired to put in a garden this year and am lucky enough to have a woman with a fruit and vegetable stand at the end of our street all summer long. I will try my hand at canning and freezing. I will shop at the locally owned businesses, but I won't do without my coffee! A girl has to draw the line somewhere.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Today was one of those beautiful sunny days in the middle of winter that refreshes your soul. I spent the day cleaning stalls and just watching the animals enjoy the sun. As did a few of my neighbors. Everyone was out enjoying their little bit of heaven.
We live in an animal friendly neighborhood. It's not technically a "neighborhood" but we have lots of neighbors on small farms. Across the street we have a beautiful 50 acre farm that has Cleveland Bay horses, miniature donkeys, geese and about 25 peacocks that come over to my place and let me enjoy their colors. Some neighbors don't appreciate this visit of the peacocks as they have a tendency to go where they want, be it sitting on the roof of your house or your spotless Corvette, it's all the same to them. One poor neighbor left a window open in their house and came home to a few peacocks running around their living room. They had been in there for hours. Imagine the mess. I love the peacocks and peahens with their beautiful colors and little pea-babies but they have never caused me any trouble. Next door we have a horse farm with some pretty fancy racehorses. In the spring there is usually a baby or two. I get my horse fix but don't have to own a horse. I have owned horses all my life but with the cost of hay and vet care skyrocketing it is a relief to not have one anymore. I vowed to not own another horse until I had enough money to call the vet in the middle of the night, on Christmas, without thinking about how much it would cost me.
So there are animals all around us and wonderful neighbors that will help feed if we are away, will help if one of the animals is sick..............or loose! I just haven't found anyone that can milk. For this reason, I haven't had a milk goat for sometime. When my son was young and at home we stayed home most of the time so it was easy to keep the milking schedule but now that he is grown and gone we can travel more and as much as I would like a milk goat I kind of want to see a bit of the world.........well really I'd settle for the United States. Not one of my neighbors can milk for me so I have been leaving the babies on the mothers and then letting the does dry up after the kids are weaned. I have been thinking of an exchange program for people that want a milk goat but also want to take a vacation or two. Someone that can board my milk goat if I board theirs. Sounds like a good idea to me.
So after a few weeks of bad weather where I have just been feeding and then rushing back inside I got to spend the day with my favorite friends.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Yesterday, at school, a first grade teacher was doing a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. when one little boy raised his hand and said "How could they tell if someone was black or white?"

Children are colorblind.........too bad everyone isn't.

Conversation with a 9 year old

Knowing that Pavel's grandmother raised chickens for meat and eggs, I asked him at school one day, what is the best kind of chicken for eggs. The conversation went like this............
"Pavel, I am going to get some chickens for eggs. What is the best kind of chicken?"
"I don't want to give you my chickens!" exclaimed Pavel.
"No, I don't want your chickens. I am just asking what kind you like."
"Well," Pavel said. "I like the black and white speckled ones with the orange beaks because they are nice when I pick them up."
"Oh, so they are calm?"
"Yes, but if you want the pretty eggs you have to have the pretty chickens."

So I'm thinking he has Barred Plymouth Rocks and Aracaunas.

Pig Tails

Daphne and Fiona have been a wonderful addition to the place. We have learned a great deal about pigs over the last few months. Here are a few things we have learned...
Pigs are very vocal and have a wide variety of noises I wish I could understand.
There is no place to hang on to on a pig.
You can't hide a pill in a banana.
All they think about is food.
Pigs LOVE to run and play.
And they need their feet trimmed. I hadn't thought of that until I got them but it didn't discourage me. My dad taught me how to trim my pony's feet as a kid. I have been trimming goats' feet for 37 years. I can trim the llama's feet. A pig can't be that hard.
I was a little concerned because most people, I have heard, get the vet out to sedate the pig and trim but that costs around $300 in our area. There is no way I was going to pay someone when hubby and I could do it.
The woman we got them from said that if we get them on their back they will stop struggling and you can trim them. She said they would squeal but that they would at least be still. So we had a plan. The plan was for hubby to pick one up and get its feet off the ground and I would trim. Easier said than done. There was no way we could get her on her back.There is no where to hang on to a pig that doesn't want to have anything to do with what you are doing. I had my tools ready.....goat hoof trimmers and some pruners just in case. After much running around the pen trying to grab a pig we got Fiona up off her feet. She squealed at the top of her lungs the entire time. Neither the goat trimmers or the pruners would cut the hoof. While hubby kept Fiona suspended I ran for the horse nippers. They were sharp enough but very awkward due to their length. Pigs have very short legs and to get under her and bend her hoof so I could trim it was hard work. All the time she is SCREAMING at the top of her pig lungs right in my ear. You see, pigs are prey animals. They always think they are going to be eaten. There is no convincing them otherwise. You just have to get on with the deed as quickly as possible. We trimmed Fiona's hooves and started in on Daphne when I sensed a presence behind me. I just couldn't look up from what I was doing to see who it was and couldn't hear a word this person was saying due to the screaming in my ear. I dropped the last hoof and turned around with sweat streaming down my face. There was our very British, gentleman farmer neighbor wondering what in the "bloody hell" we were doing to the pigs. He hung over the fence for a while and told tales of the pigs he had had. Turns out he is quite a pig fan. With the assurance we would call him and warn him next time we trim the pigs' feet he went back over to his farm. He was worried something was eating the pig girls. I tell you they are getting quite a fan club.
So we got the job done. Not as neatly as I would have liked so I was out to find the perfect pig hoof trimming tool. I happened to be in Sears and remembered that I needed something to trim the pigs hooves and found these great tin snips gone hoof trimmers (to quote my friend Marigold). I CAN wait to try them out on the pigs. They worked great on the goats!
We have learned a lot about our pigs. The most important being.......let pigs be pigs. They don't have to be anything other than what God intended them to be. PIGS.
And maybe invite my hubby's big burly friend over when it's time to trim again.

Four Little Words

There are four little words that my hubby hates to hear.
I need another pen.
He, over the years, has built many an animal enclosure. We have gotten fairly good at it. Since we are cheap and like the idea of reusing things people throw out we have had to get pretty creative. Him and I in a constant battle. He wants to just do it as fast as he can and me wanting it to look nice too. We have, in spite of ourselves, come up with a few very cute shelters to keep everyone warm and dry.
Here is one that houses the llama and a few goats. You can't really see it in the picture but he cut out a metal horse and hung it above the gate. This use to house my son's pony, hence the horse art.

Well, I am in need of another pen. I need a bachelor pad for Ruckus and Moly. I want to keep my buck in a nice welcoming pen befitting the king of the farm. And Moly needs a place where he can relax. I believe every animal needs to feel comfortable in his home and the other goats just won't leave poor Moly alone. So we have started the discussion of where to put it. My husband, who has never been around a buck for any length of time, chose the corner closest to the neighbor, who I might add is a lawyer. After pointing out this is not the best place to put our odorous pet I suggested an area much farther away from the city folk. He quickly told me that wouldn't work for him because he really didn't want to smell him either. Go figure. We compromised on an area between the two. It will be sunny in the summer and sheltered in the winter and has two great stumps for playing goat games. The neighbors should only get a passing whiff if we are lucky. Hey, they are the ones that moved to the country.
I am hoping to get started this weekend so I'm getting my husband primed for a long weekend of building. My only competition is a new shotgun and the desire to go pheasant hunting east of the mountains.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I finally got it. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It was on my Christmas list but didn't make it under the tree. So I went down to my favorite bookstore and as I walked in the lady said "What can we find for you?" I turned to my right and there it was waiting for me. A single copy sitting on a table by itself. I picked it up and said "This, I'll have this." I also bought a copy of The Poisonwood Bible for my son's girlfriend. She is a reader. And this is one of my favorite books. While I was there I bought a book for my husband. He is a big reader but he reads magazines. Motorcycle magazines being his favorite but he also likes bird dog magazines and the occasional car magazine but never a novel. The last book he read was The Life and Time of Lou Alcindor. If that doesn't date us. So I picked up a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance hoping to lure him in by the title. I saw a small flash of pain cross his eyes as I pulled it out of the bag. There was a slight bit of doubt in the way he thanked me. We shall see.

Also for Christmas, my son bought me The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz. This book has a beautiful cover and I do judge a book by it's cover. From my mom a copy of Jan Karon's new book. I have lots of reading and knitting so bring on the bad weather.

I needed something to trim the pigs feet. The horse nippers were just not working. Although sharp enough, were very awkward. Speed is important in the art of pig manicures. The trimmers for the goats' feet are not strong enough for the pigs. I was on the lookout for a pig, llama, goat trimming tool. We were walking through Sears the other day and they had bins of dollar stuff and I found the most wonderful pair of tin snips that are just the right size and they feel wonderful. And the best part........they were 6 dollars. I tried them out on the goats and the hooves cut like butter. I haven't tried them on the pigs yet because that is an event we had, not too long ago, and I'll wait until we need to again. Believe me, I can wait. So can the neighbors.

Another favorite thing is my new cast iron skillet from Cabela's. It is perfection in a skillet. Heavy, tall sides and best of all..........it was 15 dollars. After my son and his girlfriend, the biology researchers, talked about aluminum and Alzheimer research I decided to go cast iron. Now there is no going back. I can't wait to get back to Cabela's to see what else they have in cast iron. Did I mention it was only 15 dollars!

My son gave me a darling bag for my Chihuahua. Solomon, my Chi boy, came to live here in October when his first family had a baby and didn't want him anymore. He would have been a great dog for them to keep as he loves everyone and everything. He is not the shivering, scared toy you normally see. I have seen him with babies and children and he loves them too. But their loss has been our gain. We take him everywhere with us. I always said I wanted a "Paris Hilton" dog so my son bought me a purse to put him in. How thoughtful. Definitely one of my favorite things.

Knowing how much I love my dogs, his girlfriend sent two pictures of our shelties to an artist and she painted ornaments that look just like Miles and Grace. How thoughtful is that! They are perfect. Here is a picture of them.

It was such a perfect holiday I hate to let it go but I watched this morning as my son, his girlfriend and little dog Faith drove out the driveway and back to their life in sunny southern California. I said a little prayer for their safe return and headed back into the house to take the tree down for another year.

Odds and Ends

It has been a very busy time here this holiday. It has been non stop going for about a month now. I have just had enough time to feed animals and clean out pens then on to the next event or get together. This Christmas has truly been a blessing. Our son is home from college with a degree in biology and applying to graduate schools. We haven't seen him in about 6 months and have missed him so much. Also a blessing, the arrival of his lovely girlfriend. She feels like family.........no pressure. I told my son, "She likes Diana Gabaldon books and green olives, she's the girl for me!" No pressure. I knitted and felted a hat for her. This one has a bit of llama in it. I think it is my best ever and looks darling on her. I have had her cleaning pig pens and asked if the smell bothered her and she said "No, I don't really smell anything." She chased the llama around the pasture determined he would take an apple from her. And sure enough, he did. She even took a trip to the feed store and came back with everything I wanted. Now I wouldn't call those tests....but let's just say she passed with flying colors.
The animals had a few visitors this weekend. It seems that the pigs have become somewhat of an attraction and have found a following in the blog world. Well, really it's my sister in law that sent my blog to her mother and they wanted to come see the animals, especially the pigs. So everyone came over and went out to meet the animals that they had read about. The pigs were quite unremarkable. Barely looking up from their food long enough to interact with anyone. Then I had to worry, because they had food on their mind, that they might nip a finger of someone wanting to touch their funny little nose. A pig's nose seems to be irresistible to touch, I have noticed. Try it sometime.
The goats all gathered round and got their bite of apple and the llama came over to see what was going on. Moly and Ruckus put on a good head butt display while everyone laughed. Semi Sweet (Mrs. Robinson) stuck out her tongue and molested anything that would stand still. A good time was had by all.
We will be getting more chickens this spring so I am deciding which kind. I like Americanas but would like to get an old or rare breed. I need about 5 or 6 hens and maybe a rooster. We have two very cute hens that are technically the neighbors but have "free ranged" themselves over to my place. I call them The Ladies. They have supplied me with eggs but I have to find them which really means I come across my dog woofing them down and save what's left. We have a lot of predators so these new hens will be locked up and have proper nest boxes.

We made a trip to the new Cabela store. It was overwhelming but fun. I bought two sweaters and a cast iron skillet. They have something for everyone. My husband is an avid pheasant hunter so he found a good deal on an upland bird coat. I have heard that people plan their vacation around a visit to Cabela's. I think that is going way too far but it was fun to visit.
So that's the odds of the holidays and the end of 2007. I hope 2008 brings a few hens, a few Nigerian babies and my son closer to home.