State of the Homestead

Billy's first appearance

I've got the feeding, watering and pen cleaning down to a regular timetable and I've come to one conclusion. This takes a lot of time! I don't even have the big garden to contend with right now. The animals get all my attention.

Garden: This year was a bust. The only things that made it were snow peas (only because they came early), onions, and a few tomatoes. The grasshoppers pretty much devoured everything. 

I'm still crossing my fingers my pecan trees will survive. Rotten hoppers ate all the leaves off my pecan and lemon trees. :shakes fist at grasshoppers:  

The only thing they didn't eat was my watermelon and pumpkin. They ate my sweet potatoes, but the plants resurrected themselves so that's a bonus.

One garden has been tilled and covered in plastic to kill any weed seeds. I've already started new seedlings. With any luck, I can put them in the ground next month.

Rabbits: These little guys are such sweethearts. But they're not doing well in this heat, especially the doe. Greg and I put our heads together and decided to build a cage with a poop tray underneath so I can keep them in the house during the heat of the summer. They'll be getting a vacation every summer. When it cools off they can go back to their shady spot by my potting shed. I think they need the fresh air and sun, so I only want to do this for a few months a year. 

Whenever I have a few minutes to spare I let them run around in a secure room so they can stretch their legs and explore. Soon though, they'll have to explore separately because I don't want her getting pregnant too soon. She's too young yet. 

I wish I had taken new pictures of them, but I ran out of time. Maybe on the next homestead update.

Chickens: Many of them will be going to chicken heaven in the fall. They've served their three years and it's time to replace most of them. I am keeping one older hen only because I've become attached to her. All her life, the other hens picked on her and I always had to protect her from them. Now she can be the big cheese for a while.

The Maran chicks were moved to a bigger pen. Some are destined for the pot, others will be layers and one lucky boy is going to replace Mean Rooster. I have one chick who broke his wing--probably roughhousing with his siblings. He's convalescing in a private cage until he can fend for himself again.  

Goats: Oh, those girls. They have personality the size of Texas. I'm glad they're doing so well. I was a little concerned because Heidi is getting a bit pudgy. That little thing is always eating. I'm limiting her grain and keeping her on hay for a while so she doesn't get too big too fast.

Billy, the goat

The big news on the homestead is that we have a new Mister in the arena. After a long search, I finally found a worthwhile buck for them. Greg wants to call him Billy. 

I've hesitated getting a buck for a long time because of all the horror stories I'd heard. I hope this fella doesn't prove them right.

He's skittish with me right now, (he only arrived two days ago) but I hope he'll settle down soon. He's about 9 months old, still a little young to mate--not that he let that stop him. He tried to mount Lucy within seconds of arriving, but she said she had a headache.

The Dogs: If you read last week's blog, you know that Tank had to go through some serious pain when he tore part of his toenail. He's still limping, but he is getting scads of attention from me and Greg. We've even taken him out for more hamburgers.

Iko is limping too. He has an old injury on his hock. If he'd just let it rest, he'd heal in a few weeks, but he's always playing tag with Nana, making it worse.

Maggie is still my shadow, but now she's teamed up with Nana to keep me well-protected. The boys might be snoozing in the bedroom, but the girls are always on alert. Apparently, the boys only get up if muscle is required. 

I'll try to snap more pictures for next month, but I'll leave you with one more of Billy. I call this "The Money Shot". I think if you look closely, you'll see why.

So what have you been doing this summer? Seen any good movies?

I'd like to see Elysium when it comes out. This afternoon we'll either see RED 2 or Pacific Rim. But R.I.P.D. looks hilarious and I'd like to see that too.

Have you seen any of these? Is there anything you recommend?