Wow! I was shocked to see it had been six months since I had posted anything. Life sure flies by!
We have been busy cleaning up the property after the 20 inches of rain we have received this Spring. This is the first year in 8 years we have been here that the creek bed has flooded out of it's banks. Our entire yard was one big pond. I am thankful my husband built the house on 4 foot tall pier and beams. Kept the house out of the water for sure.
I purchased more Freedom Ranger chicks in April, only to have 25 of them wiped out by a possum last week (June 10). Very upsetting. That is my food. This is the first time we have had this happen, and I am stumped as to how it go inside a locked building. No holes or openings anywhere.
Pond is full, praying it will last the summer. Sold most of our goat herd to purchase bees/hive. They are in place and doing great so far. Can't wait to learn more. Thankfully, I have a good mentor to help me out.
We kept three remaining does. So we ended up with four new babies. One of the mamas (Bluebonnet, Age 9yrs) passed away last week. No idea why. She looked fine, but it could have been age. Her little guy "Blu" is fending for himself (he's almost 3 months) now in the field. His mama was a loner and kept to herself, so he is following her lead and staying away from everyone else. Except at night, he comes and sleeps in front of our front door on the porch. Who knew our front porch would turn into a barn? We have chickens, a rat, a guinea pig, rabbits, cats, dogs and now goats living/sleeping on the porch. I am scared to ask what next?
Our POA paint horse Samson has hurt his rear leg again. Last year he broke it, and it appears broken again. He kicked the dog for chasing him (left a good hoof shaped cut on his head too), but broke the same leg. It has been swollen for about 3 months, nothing to do for him. He still gets around the field, eats, drinks, etc., but it doesn't seem to be healing as fast as it should. Since he is still eating, I don't want to put him down. What a Quandry.....
PH job is finally at a close. He is packing up the building and inventorying the equipment for the company. He will be the last one out, and then we will have to worry about a job. Very scary feeling in a way.I did manage to find another part time job with the USDA doing farm surveys. It is a pretty good job, and I wish I could do it full time. Maybe in the future. So, we aren't destitute. Thankfully, we are debt free, and raise a lot of our own food. We just need money for luxuries like electricity, fuel, books and travel.
PD#1 graduated from our homeschool high school. She was also (finally) promoted to 2Lt in Civil Air Patrol in May. A huge milestone for her.
Cadet 2nd Lieutenant
PD#1 (left) with her BFF
Graduating together from HomeSchool
*We planted a small garden this year, primarily herbs to sell at the local Farmer's Market. I have been drying the basil, as we have an abundance of basil. Next will be the mint. I've also been wild-crafting several medicinal herbs (nettle, spotted bee balm, algerita).
We use herbal remedies primarily, though I do have one or two homeopathic remedies, and we use essential oils, along with the rest, to treat illness. Thankfully, no doctor visits this year, as we do not have health insurance. Maybe PH next job will have affordable health insurance. His last company we paid $350 a month, then it went up to $600 a month and we had to cancel because we couldn't afford the additional cost.
