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!

A farmer's lament

Warning, much whining ahead. I'm not really feeling the farm love lately.

I have 12 laying hens, 1 is sitting on a nest of eggs right now so she's excused. But the other 11 are only managing to lay an average of 4 eggs a day. I thought maybe they were hiding them so I kept them locked in the coop the last 2 days. I got 5 eggs one day, and only 1 yesterday! I'm going crazy trying to figure out what is going on. I have people that want eggs and not nearly enough eggs for them. All I can figure is their eating them?

Then I have my bratty milk goat, and bratty is putting it nicely! It takes me 5 minutes to drag her to the milk stand each morning. She then lets me milk her for about 3 minutes before she decides she's done. And when she's done, she isn't kidding. She kicks, stomps, sits down, dances, everything she can think of to make me stop. She spills the milk every 3 days or so. I'm starting to really dislike this goat. She's also a bully to the other goats. Her only saving grace is she's a good mom. I'm seriously considering giving up milking. It isn't worth the daily fight for 4 ounces of milk. I dread getting up in the morning because I know what is coming.

And if that wasn't enough, the guineas are making nests in the hardest to find places. I've found a few of them recently with many eggs in them. One had 16! I have no idea how old the eggs are so I just mark them and keep checking the nest to see if we get new ones. Not only do we not get new ones but over the next few days all the old ones disappear. This has happened a few times now. We haven't had a guinea egg in well over a month.

On top of all that, the goats have discovered that good stuff is growing in the garden and they are now getting out every day and eating the garden. I thought I had all the places they could get out sealed up, but apparently not. I've long suspected that they could escape whenever they want and just stay where I want them out of kindness. The lure of the garden is too much for them to resist right now. I'm trying to seal any spot I find.

And speaking of the garden, it has rained everyday for the last week. Which is great, except the weeds are now so big I can't find my plants! Of course, the goats can, they don't eat the weeds, just the stuff I want. It finally isn't raining today but it's in the 90s out there. I have no idea when weeding may occur.

And Mark wonders why I'm not in the mood to make dinner at night!