Meet Gannett

We were shopping at Walmart about a month ago and were loading stuff into the car. I heard a small meow. Logan and I hunted it down and found a kitten up in the engine of a nearby car. We managed to get him out of the engine and brought him home. His name is Gannett.

He is the sweetest little guy! He loves to cuddle and purrs louder than any other cat I've ever known. He's going to live in the house into the spring then the plan is for him to go out and be a barn cat.

Blacksmithing

Logan got to do blacksmithing at Foxfire. He really enjoyed it.

He started out by flattening a huge nail.

He then curled it to make a rat tail.

Then curved it into a J shape.

He had to cool it off when he was done shaping it.

He made a hook!

Trip to Foxfire

Last week we went to Foxfire with some friends. Foxfire is a pretty interesting place, it is a village showing how people lived 100 years ago in this area. If you are familiar with the Foxfire books, it's the same place and it's only an hour from us!

Because there were only 2 kids in our group, Logan got to do a lot of things. He had a really good time.

He got to play on stilts and was able to take 8 steps before he fell over.


He made rope.

Played with old time toys.

He did some weaving.

And some wood working.

The highlight of the day was the blacksmithing. Logan actually got to shape metal into a hook. But that will be it's own post.

Is it a boy or a goat?

Wow, it's been over 2 months since my last update. Geez. My work schedule should be getting easier now so hopefully I can post more often.

We had our first freeze last night so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures from the summer. I'm really not ready for cold yet.

Sometimes I think Logan takes his job as a goat owner a little too seriously.

Where have I been?

I’ve been seriously MIA lately. This has been a little bit of a tough summer for me. I’ve been extremely restless. I haven’t traveled beyond visiting family since I moved here almost 2 years old. I’ve been feeling a strong need to travel for the last few months. I’ve also been feeling restless about my future. Logan is almost 11 and once he moves out (which I know is still 8 years away), I’m going back to work full-time. If I’m going back to work full time at 48, I’m going to do something I want to do. I’m just not sure what that is. The college I’m teaching for will let me get a degree for free if I teach for them for another year after I finish my degree. I’ve spent a few months trying to figure out if I want to pursue a degree, if I want to commit to this job for the next 4 years, and if I do what do I want to get a degree in. I know I need to be more than I am now, but deciding the direction of that is tough!

This restlessness had lead to a very short attention span over the last few months. I honestly don’t have the focus to read other people’s blogs. I’ve gotten really into Facebook because it fits the attention span I have now. I’ve even had to start reading kids books because I can finish those before I lose interest. On the upside, I’ve found a really good kid’s series. But this short attention span has me worried about possibly going back to school. I’m not sure I’ll have the patience to do all the reading and write the papers.

I’ve also been feeling like a homesteading failure. My garden amounted to nothing again this summer. The weeds got up to my shoulders before Mark weed wacked them for me. I got a handful of green beans and that is it. I also gave up on milking the goat after struggling with her to get a few ounces of milk each day. At least I don’t have to worry about the egg recall. This is why I haven’t been updating my blog. I feel like I have nothing worthwhile to share.

So, enough of my excuses. Here are some good things going on around here:


Ursa Bear's hair grew back. She looks cute again. She's also become my friendliest goat. She head butts me for petting.

She has also learned to play! Callisto is very happy about that.

Callisto has grown a ton! She can jump up onto the top of the chicken houses.

And will be as big as her mom soon.

Eris is now our biggest goat and just so cute.

Asparagus is still doing good!

Grandpa plays with the goats

You behave yourself now.

Another one for the freaky egg file

Garden update

If you are looking for an update with lots of pretty pictures of beautiful produce, this is not the update for you. If however you've been struggling with your garden this year and want to feel better, keep reading. I almost named this post I hate my garden.

Hopefully TEOTWAWKI won't happen anytime soon or my family will starve!

Strawberries - all eaten by the birds before they got ripe, plants are now totally overtaken with grass. I can't even find the plants anymore. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, either til them all under or take the time to separate each plant from the grass.

Peas - got a handful before the plants died due to heat

Tomatoes - had a ton of green tomatoes, the chickens ate them all before they could ripen

Green beans - harvested enough for 3 dinners, the grasshoppers have now eaten all the leaves, planted more seeds about a month ago, none germinated or were eaten as soon as they did

Brocolli - never got any heads

Potatoes - never grew

Corn - improvement from last year. Last year the plants only got waist high and I never got any ears. This year the plants got head high and I got ears! However, this is how they all look:

I guess I didn't get good fertilization.

Sweet potatoes - hanging in there, I'm hopeful for a good harvest

Okra - still hasn't germinated, but it's only been a week since I planted them

Asparagus - the one thing that is doing really good, won't be ready to harvest for at least another year

Weeds - doing great! Although even they are starting to die from lack of rain

I spent a couple of weeks wallowing in self pity (it's how I work). Now I'm ready to cowgirl up and make it work. I think I'm going to build 4 or 5 more raised beds, they seem to do the best here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Poor Ursa Bear

Sorry for being so MIA on this blog and everyone elses. I'll be amazed if I have any readers anymore. Summer is so busy!

Ursa Bear's hair was getting really long and she was so hot. So we decided to give her a haircut. We used a pair of spring scissors.

Here she is pre-haircut.


We took her up to the house to do the haircut. She met the cats for the first time.

We locked her into the milkstand with a bowl of food for some of the haircut, then Logan held her for the rest.

Poor girl, I am not a hairdresser! She looks silly.

"What did that woman do to me?"

Don't worry Ursa, it'll grow back. She is much cooler now though.

Random pictures from around the farm

Pictures don't always fit into their own posts, so here are some random ones from the last few weeks.


We have a few too many of these around.

I know what is getting the guinea eggs.

Yes, that is a house being built right next door. Even in the country neighbors feel the need to build too close.

Feeding time at the zoo.

In other news, I found a nest of 11 chicken eggs. I have no idea how long they've been there (I think less than a week) and it's been in the 90s so those are all wasted. At least I know a new place to look now. If they would just stick to one spot! I also stopped milking the goat, it wasn't worth the frustration. Everyone is doing well and I'll post newer pictures of Callisto soon. She's getting really big!