for the faint of heart

 Life on an acreage is not for the faint of heart! My aunt asked me the other day what I would do all day if I lived in a normal house and had no animals. I said, "it would be vacation!!"

 Of course I don't really do much around here. I have lots of helpers and if you looked at my garden you would realize that in comparison to real homesteaders or the old time farmers...I only play!

Nevertheless, I did get out to the garden and do a bit of weeding. I picked some of the spinach that was going to seed to give to the rabbits tomorrow morning. I also picked a mess of beets, of which I will give the greens to the rabbits and goats and use the beets as boiled beets and also will make some beet kvass.  (I go to the goat pen and pick the white clover that they won't eat--they prefer red. Who knew they can see in color?! I pick a big tote every am and supplement the meat rabbits diet. We have 15 needing butchering and they are eating me out of house and home!)

Nothing on a farm goes to waste! Even the seeds that the animals fail to eat come up in the garden. So far I have beautiful squash plants, of some kind! And several cucumber plant, which I did not plant. I thinned my strawberry plants the other day. I must have pulled about 100 plants out. I gave some to a lady that came for a kitten, offered some to another friend, transplant and about 45 plants and still have about 30 left.

Even a box and a feed bag get recycled in a million ways. Currently a box set out to burn is being used as a kitten house-playyard. It is so fun to sit and watch them bat and scratch and jump with each other! Even the mamas are getting into it!

 I just used a feed bag the other day,too, to put between two of the rabbit cages. The lid use to be flat and the divider fit perfectly. Bit the snow sat so heavy that we modified it to be at an angle. Fine except the pen of 4 rabbits each side would always have 7 on one side and no food and water. They hopped one way but never made it back. So I figured I'd put the one doe due any day(had 10 and lost 4) side by side with the ready-to-butcher babies because they wouldn't jump over there. Well, indeed they did. And I was afraid for the new tiny rabbits. So...I put the other expecting doe on the other side and moved the bigger babies. Fine. Except new mama jumped in with other doe and got all bloodied up! Twice. She, too, apparently forgot which way was home. Thus, a feed sack weighed down at the bottom with a brick and at the top on the lid with a brick. Boy, you'll never look at a disposable item again when you've lived in the country!!

Faint of heart my girls ain't... The two does got into it again...another emergency call to the vet for a house call (yes, they still make house calls). Our horned goat gored the other in the udder...again. Different spot. Much worse. This time it was not just milk running out of her bag, it was pouring blood. Of course I was alone outside and I had left the two together...so it was my fault. Anyway...I dragged her to the hose to try to wash her off and assess. There was no assessing except "don't panic!" I got her up to the garage and on the way stopped long enough to pick a wad of clean plantain leaves. I did consider, as I popped them in my mouth and started chewing, that we do have goats, kittens and free-range birds...but what's that to a bleeding goat?! So, I chewed and chewed and then crammed them into the gouge and applied pressure. To no avail. I felt like a surgeon asking for scalpel as I yelled,"more plantain leaves. How about gloves and cayenne..." The cayenne finally did the trick...as long as it was left alone. (Cayenne is a vasoconstictor, so it constricts the blood vessels, this slowing bleeding. I have used this on a puncture on my own hand. And,no, it doesn't burn or hurt...as long as its only on the injury. It does burn...like cayenne...on the rest of your skin! FYI!!) Finally the vet showed up and pulled the plantain and started the bleeding again. As it turns out, G held her tail up and out of the way while I held her collar and chest in place and M watched as he stitched her up. That was bad in its own right, but try milking bloody milk with clots that don't come down and out without some major force...THAT was a bit much for B an A. I ended up taking over for those with sensitive stomachs. I thought about offering curds and whey or strawberry milk for dinner...but decided against it in favor of compassion. However, like I said, nothing gets wasted...so the bottle babies drink koolaid milk just fine!!

When B was up at Mom's a few weeks ago he found some bows, without strings or arrows. A has been dying to buy one...B ordered strings and arrows and remade the 30+ year old bows. Boy has it been fun. They are going to have to start bow hunting for me this fall!!

Well, we would love company...but please don't come unless you have a stout composition and aren't scared off by a dead snake on the book shelf or a HUGE weird spider in a jar on the kitchen cupboard or a cricket house in the mudroom or a diapered goat jumping off your lap whole you sit on the couch enjoying a cup of...something that just spilled...or a diaper-less child pottying on the potty chair in the dining room. (Rule one of potty training before they can talk...make the potty chair assessable at all times!)