rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

Phew. All parties are broken up, barn emptied with everyone back in their pens. Buck pen has been resized and modified and a round bale has been given. And the little white buck, as soon as I got him out in the light I realized he looked like he hadn't had a hoof trim in 6+ months...and he kicked like he hadn't had a hoof trimm in 6+ months so of course with his help I quicked him bad and feel like a rat. I guess I should check Oberon, the little black buck. The lady who had them did say her BACK couldn't handle them anymore, and hoof trimming a hand standing meatball buck while he thrashes is definitely hard on the back.

So now I'm beat and sore and should have had DH come help me take the round bale on the tour of the barnyard. (Truck parked in one end of the barn alley has a dead battery again, some kid probably got in and left a light on or something, and on the other side was the malfunctioning mower so I unstuck the choke on the riding mower and started it, but for some reason it won't come out of neutral now. So the mower is lighter and less risky to move than the truck, so I pushed the mower out and took the long way around with the round bale instead of the short way that was blocked by the truck so...poo.)

As soon as I'm up to it I'll need to be out there with a COVID mask to keep errant flies out, shoveling the stalls out. I have plans to empty the cardboard recycle bin and start a garden bed somewhere with the goat manure on top of a cardboard blocking layer.

 

[rachels.haven]

Today was lame. But here are some cute pics. This is Shaun's goat now. All the Nigerians cluster around him when he's in the pasture. Tiny goat magnetism afoot here. He loves the littlest one the best. So much, infact that she has the sploots now. Too much love. (And if she keeps the diarrhea up, she'll get treated for coccidia and/or worms without looking because I'll be darned if he lets me run the fecal we collected)

Hauling his goat back to the pen...sort of. We didn't get there. He got distracted. They ran, hippity skippity to the front yard to get into trouble together...or rather so he could get into trouble while she watched.

He was explaining me here what i'd told him earlier. It came back to me as "if you give them too much grain it goes straight to their butt and they have by-er-eeeah!". Little molasses faced goat does not look like she believes that.

 

[Baymule]

Trace Adkins has a song, “You’re gonna miss this”. And I’m here to tell you, one day, you really are gonna miss this.

 

[Finnie]

Trace Adkins has a song, “You’re gonna miss this”. And I’m here to tell you, one day, you really are gonna miss this.

X2

I love my adult kids, but I miss the years when they were with me more. All their different ages. They are pretty scattered now so it’s harder to get together.

 

[rachels.haven]

Today is new roof day. Not sure it made it into the final drafts of what I posted, but the roof leaks...and so does the basement, so with the money we have we are working on both. Thank goodness our house is trailer sized and not another Mc Mansion.
The house has two layers of roof on it (avoids removal and disposal fees). We're getting it all taken off and replacing the rotted wood and starting over fresh.

"Improvements" bag on DH's piano is a gift from the inlaws that they figured we needed since we moved back north. Car ice removal stuff. Not really relevant here.

Soap I made yesterday smells fun. So far the kids like yuzu and watermelon scents. I suspect they will like strawberry as well when I make it(candy scented showers?). I like that one less because it smells like fake strawberry syrup but childhood is short and they can take those 6 bars into the basement bathroom. I also still need to make the almond, vanilla, and coconut cream sample batches. The plan is to pick a few scents we like a lot and make good sized batches once or twice a year. Goat milk soap does not use a lot of milk though. It's just fun and creamy.

Our house sounds and feels like it wants to fall apart as they're ripping the roof off...I wonder if it's going to collapse.

 

[Mini Horses]

Geesh...a lot of issues with just bought house . No wonder they moved !!

 

[rachels.haven]

yeah. It really got me down for a while. This was basically just a 2 year stop gap for the previous people until they could buy their 50 acre horse neglecting/boarding facility. They maintained as little as they possibly could and as far as I can tell they improved nothing. They bought the house from a flipper, who bought the house abandoned after a couple had a divorce and the spouse left with the house basically gave up on life. The vet we had come out said he'd been out to this location a few times 15 years ago and this place has always been a mess even before the divorce people (I mentioned being sorry things were a mess and that we were working on fixing things, and he said not to worry because...). Some days I'm a little frustrated at a certain spouse who picked this house for us to live in, but we'll get the place functional and tidy and waterproof. We plan on putting in a new well, probably as soon as we switch well maintenance companies...
Basically on our neighborhood and nearby there are farm houses, McMansions, and kind of slummy houses and ours is straddling the line between slum and farmhouse because of the nice outbuildings and we want to force it firmly into the farmhouse category. We'll probably make it bigger too, double plus a garage would be nice. But everything in time. Plus our cabin needs to sell (I wish someone would give it a chance, it's a lot nicer than our MD house).

 

[farmerjan]

Don't overlook the "snow/ice removal" gift. MD gets a fair amount of icy weather.... you will be glad the first time the weather turns to crap there.
Sorry for the roof problems, but still glad that you are not in a Mc Mansion sized place anymore.

Are you getting the chillier temps at night?

Any news on the other house selling? My DS just got an offer on the property he bought years ago at a "land sale"... We make hay on it, it is part of a subdivision right across from his house. The properties are slowing getting sold off and building Mc Mansions in this subdivision... has all sorts of restricted covenants, he bought it for investment... but by the time they take out the capital gains and all that stuff, he said he is not sure it was worth it after all. Sure he will make money but it has been tied up for over 10 years. Slowly but surely we are losing the various pieces that we have been making hay off of. Another 11 acre piece is up for sale also. His sale is contingent on them selling their other house but they have an contract on it I am told... DS will see after this Friday's dr visit, and he will make the hay on this place asap....

Oh you were posting as I was typing... so, your other place is still in the air for now....

 

[murphysranch]

I wanted to click the LOVE button several times. The pics put a huge smile on my face!!

 

[rachels.haven]

@farmerjan , investing in real estate is tricky business. Know the feeling.

yeah, it's still for sale. The agents all say it shows well and they like showing it. We got negative feedback in the form of there being no room for a fourth bedroom unless they finish the basement or outbuildings (yeah? it's listed as a 3 bedroom for a reason...) other than that it's just not what people in that price bracket are looking for. I guess it's not a McMansion, it's a Tennessee palace a semi retired guy built for himself with his own hands but opted to sell when the town passed ordinances about his business and hiked his taxes. It may be on the market for a bit because the house, as well built and nice to live in as it is, does have a flavor and the flavor is not vanilla, if you know what I mean.

Basically, slow market, high interest rates, niche house that we didn't mind but others might decide against.

New roof is finished. Extra chimney to nowhere is gone. Next we target the basement issue. New fence is later this month, maybe early next. Fingers crossed nothing else need fixing until the house sells.