Guests and New Residents

We have guests and new residents. They all have 4 legs but they make different sounds. A short update on the K-9 residents too.

The Guests

3 Guests are Goats
the neighbor goats

Our neighbors have 3 nanny goats and that kept escaping from their enclosure. We offered our pasture to them until their pen is fixed. Of course, we had an ulterior motive. We were hoping they would make a dent in the growing pasture grass. Unfortunately, those 3 goats just couldn’t keep up. So we had to mow it.

The new Residents

This property came with some livestock areas already in place; a barn, a paddock, the pasture, and a small area for pigs complete with a wallow.

One of our neighbors had a lead on some pigs at just the perfect time. He was getting some for himself and offered to pick up 2 for us while he was at it. He got himself 8! Four females and 4 males. On Tuesday our 2 pigs arrived. Aren’t they cute? They currently weigh about 30-35 pounds, are about 6 weeks old The pigs are Yorkshire Breed will remain pink, and will grow to about 300 pounds each. Not that we need 2 pigs, but they like to have company so 2 it is. The male is Iggy Piggy, and the female is Piggie Ann. They should be at about 300 pounds by late October. UMMMM can you say bacon!!!

Lets Eat
Giving them a taste of the good life

They’ve had a bit of difficulty adjusting to the good life and stayed in the barn for the first couple of days. The pigs eat grain mix along with some kitchen scraps…They seem to currently be a bit picky. That will change as they get a bit older. The chickens sacrificed a few leaves of romaine… They were coaxed out of the barn into their yard. In the yard, the pigs discovered the mud -it was hog heaven. The only thing they are not too pleased with is the hot wire along the fence. They are learning about it in spurts!

The Canine Residents

I have posted about the cats and chickens, I haven’t posted much about the dogs. Mostly there wasn’t much to tell. Patton has been growing like a weed. Not too long ago, Patton was a big floppy footed puppy. The next thing we knew, he was bigger than Goldie. In April he began limping. A visit to the vet, an x-ray, and some meds. Patton has stopped limping after a week on the medication. His diagnosis was incomplete. We are hoping it is just a strain, and not something much worse, which the vet hinted at. At just 9 months old he weighs in at a solid 90 pounds. Goldie is just a bit shy of 3 years old and only weighs 60 pounds. When the big dogs play rough in the house, we know it!

Patton pup 9 months
he likes to lay like this- a bit like a pretze.

This is one of Pattons favorite ways to lay on the floor.

Now the new residents have been revealed. Is that the end of the fun? Nope. We have another new resident arriving soon!!! Anyone care to leave a guess?

More Later- Beth

Some fun and lots of work

Has it really been since November that I posted? Where has the time gone? Actually I know where all the time has gone and I am quite sure that you do not want to hear the details, but there has been some fun and work.

The House- no fun, lots of work

Is slowly coming together. The major work is completed, but the followup is slow going. We completed most of the interior painting, but about a quarter of the main floor still needs to be painted, we have requested the contractor to redo some of the wall repairs before we finish the painting. Next is also installing the main level flooring. It took us forever to find a floor that we thought we could live with, and we finally decided on one that is not going to be too dark. The fun was putting the furniture back into the living room area.

The Living Room almost completed
The new fireplace surround and living room arranged for sitting.

The Outside

The weather has made it difficult to tell if it is winter or not… we have a few days of freezing cold that has led to either ice on the pond or snow, and then a few warmer days with lots of rain. The pond is full and it has been fun to see how the pond changes with the temperature changes. Those pesky ladybug-like creatures are constantly trying to get into the house.

Winter-snow on the pond
Snowfall on the pond

Some travel

I went to Houston for Quilt Market and the Threads of Success Conference. It was both fun and work. I met a lot of very fascinating people and even caught up with a few friends. Many that were attending “TOS” were (or wanting to be) pattern designers, professional longarmers or book writers and of course, several were retailers. One couple that I met, have created some really great innovative products. I sure hope to get them into the store!!!

New Fun Notions for Stitching
Some new and innovative notions

TOS notions

Holidays

Thanksgiving had us traveling. A family event that everyone tries to make. The son and family made it in from Texas this year!!! We all participate in feeding the clan. My job, (most years), are the desserts for 20 and getting them there in one piece (5 hours by car), both fun and work. I also started the holiday baking, I make biscotti for gifting to friends and family. This year a new flavor was added, “Cinnamon Swirl” and it was a big hit. Christmas was lowkey because we stay home and have a traditional-ish turkey dinner.

A Critter Report

Chickens

The 6 Chickens are laying… about a dozen every 2 days. They must be happy girls. They have become quite the intrepid free-rangers, going further and further from the coop every day, even in the rain. If they keep laying, we may have to resort to giving a dozen or two away on a regular basis! Keeping up with them is more fun than work.

the chickens
All 6 chickens with coop behind

Cats

Not sure where I left off on the cats, but since the last post 6 have had the reproductive cycle interrupted. Only one more to go and all will be unable to reproduce. Not quite sure how I am going to get Tutone separated from the others long enough to trap. He is not totally afraid nor is he friendly… On another note, they are earning their keep!

Cat Earning Her Keep
Prudence with a snack

K-9

The dog “pupulation” has increased by one!!! That is not a typo. We acquired a puppy in the first part of December. We brought him home at 9 weeks, gave him the name “Patton”, and he is now 3 1/2 months old. Goldie loves having a playmate.

Patton the pup
Patton’s ears are UP!!!

Creative Department

I took a few moments and set up the longarm. It was breaking my mental status to see all those parts just laying on the concrete floor of the basement. Of course, that meant a little testing. So I quilted a yard of fabrics and created some coin purses. The rest of the creative space contents are still boxed up…

Handmade Coin Purses
The Creative Department

Technology

Yes, the real culprit for not blogging was technology. It seems that the blog software had an update that had some major conflicts. That company only has a web presence so all the help is done by email or chat, neither is particularly fun or fast. Using email, you get assigned the next available “inbox”, and aside from them not reading ALL the previous messages they tend to get a bit lazy and start suggesting that the problem is probably with the site host… So some 8 weeks later it is resolved. I could write a post, but once it was saved I could not edit or add the pictures, etc. Making it very difficult to be interrupted… and if you were raised in corporate America, you learned to save periodically, so all your hard work did not go poof- Even if it was going to anyway!!!

So, if you have made it this far… thanks for keeping up… even if I don’t! More Later-Beth