Well I DEFINITELY decided to downsize our gardens this year. And then these darned seed catalogs showed up. Still down sizing BUT, you know, I can squeeze this or that in here or there. Why do I get the feeling I won't be as downsized as I had planned. lol - Seed catalogs are my new addiction. sighhhhhh - But I think truly I can safely blame this on Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and possibly Harris Seeds. I'm sure it's entirely THEIR faults I can't totally down size. Then there are the various blogs I follow pertaining to gardening. It's just never going to end and even an intervention will only make me buy different or better varieties. 

Have a good day, I'll be lost in the pages of various seed catalogs, perusing my non-controlled substances. Bring on the spring. The warm soil and sunshine.

How boring life would be

If we didnt have each other.

We'd have no one to make us laugh or help us cry.

There'd be no one to say hello or goodbye.

I don't know how the day would begin and surely don't know how it would end.

But for now i have you and you have me and we keep each other in harmony.

FinallY!!

This is probably the last post you will see about Tickles and Dee Dee for a while, until they kid in February, as they have both finally adjusted to their new homes. Tickles does not give milk, as I stated previously, but she is looking healthy and happy and talking more so that in and of itself makes me very happy. Dee Dee is Dee Dee. A typical Nubian that has more issues with being nosey than fearful. She greats me at the gate every morning, inspects both feed buckets before she decides which one she wants to eat from and then nudges me along as I work in their pen. A nicer goat you will never find.

So thats it for now on the goats. A happy ending and a happy herdswoman.

Life is full of curve balls

Life sure can be full of curve balls. Some of them even good.
 Most recently the curve I've been thrown was an amazing reminder of how much I do know to be able to help myself get my online shop Grandma Bs Emporium actually up and running and online.

The best advice I was ever given came from my graphics teacher. When you want to design a webpage, start old school with paper and pencil THEN go to the computer. I had totally forgotten such an innocent first step. See how far technology can set a being back. lol

On that note, the next few weeks will be very busy getting our page up and running. I'd like to launch the actual page by January 1, 2013 and have a lot (but not as much as I thought) to do.

So if your into hand-crafted, homemade goodness, trendy resale items, or just in general following the craziness of a "picker at large" stick around. It might be fun.

Tickles update

Big disappointment. Not in Tickles herself, she's too sweet for that, but in the fact that I was sold a "milking doe" which has turned out to be not in milk. Sighhhhhhh. I could get my money back BUT I've already gotten attached to Tickles and don't want to do that. So the only thing to do is wait for her to kid in February (and I darn sure hope she and Dee Dee are actually bred) and then milk her after she freshens.

So disappointed. We were really looking forward to the fresh goats milk.

But the upside is, Tickles is acclimating quite well now that I am not trying to milk the poor dear and she has nothing to give.

Poor herdsman skills on the part of the previous owner if you ask me. If your going to raise, breed and sell goats, you should at least know exactly what you are raising, breeding and selling.

Oh well. Onward and upward as I always say.

Tickles the goat

Well it seems Tickles is not handling her new environment well. She has virtually quit milking, was doing nothing but laying around all the time. Just kind of hunched up in one corner. And won't eat.

I've given her Probios to help with the eating issue and noticed last night that she is at least getting up now and moving around. She still isn't giving milk. But honestly I am okay, even though I'm terribly disappointed about it, because at least she is still healthy and getting up to move around.

Unfortunately I am starting to wonder if these two are actually even bred as they are both due in February and neither of them even remotely looks pregnant. I am more concerned about health of kids at this stage if they are in fact bred.

Constantly reminding myself that just because I didn't do it, doesn't mean it wasn't done right.

I will probably have to contact the previous owner if this situation doesn't straighten itself out.

The Saturday Night Farm Report

Changing the name of this particular blog to The Saturday Night Farm Report. Seems to cover just about anything I can blog about. lol

11/24/2012


YAY!!! Miss Tickles has apparently started to get comfy. She finally decided to eat some hay and was eating her grain pretty well at milking time.

I did have to cheat and giver her a little bit of Probios, but better that than let her go hungry and possibly get sick from the stress. she really is a lovely little lady.

And her pen mate Dee Dee is everything a mischievous Nubian has ever been reported to be. She certainly likes to command attention and truly does respond in a positive way when she gets it.

Although tickles gives less milk than I expected, I am grateful for what she does give. At least I don't have to pay $5.35 a gallon for watered down, "enriched" by-products they pass of to consumers in the grocery stores.

I really am excited for the babies to come in February. Have a great evening and thanks for being here.

11/23/2012

The white one (Sanaan) is Tickles, she's having a little trouble adjusting, but I think we will be fine. The brown one (Nubian) is Dee Dee. She has just discovered sweet feed and I can tell I will have to be very careful with that one.
Milking went a little better this morning, so every step forward is a thing to be grateful for.
Oh and both are due to have kids in Feb. 2013.






11/23/2012

Well Tickles the Sanaan and Dee Dee the nubian arrived here at their new home today.

So far, Dee Dee has seemed to settle in very well. Nubians are like that. They recover from their stresses well and as long as their is something they can be nosy about they are happy. Long ears, short attention span.

However, Tickles has not fared as well. I think. She is either very stressed out or the previous owner did not realize the goat doesn't produce much milk at all. At milk time tonight she gave less than 2 cups. I am hoping it gets better in the morning.

One thing I have to remember is she is not used to being hand milked, she's always been on a machine.  I've never really dealt with Sanaans before and don't know how well they recover from stress. Time will tell but I hope for her sake it doesn't take too much time. I wouldn't get rid of her because she doesn't produce but if she SHOULD be producing and isn't that can lead to a disease called mastitis which can be very painful and dangerous to the animal.

Hoping for better results in the AM.