State of the Homestead

August was a busy month. I don't know why. Usually it's the hottest month of the year and everyone around here keeps a low profile, waiting for the heat to dissipate. This year the goats have kept us busy with improvements to their quarters and maintenance.

Garden: I was able to save about twenty assorted plants from the original garden. I put them in pots and babied them for a few weeks waiting for the temps to return to more reasonable levels. We're still getting triple digits, but not as consecutively.

I put the potted plants back into the garden with an extra shot of rabbit poop. Most of them made the transfer fine. I only lost a couple of them, probably due to the heat. 

I've got my cool weather transplants waiting in the wings, but I'm hesitant to put them out just yet. That sun is still brutal.

Rabbits: My love-bunnies are getting big. They're still very sweet and docile. Even though they're living indoors during the summer months, I take them out in the early morning to enjoy some fresh air and grass.

Chickens: We'll be having a major slaughter in a few weeks. I've got about 25+ birds to dispatch in the next two months. We'll do about ten at a time. That's about all Greg and I can handle in a day.

I plan on fewer birds next year. Until we get one of those automatic chicken pluckers, I don't want to get into full scale meat production. Plucking them is too hard on my arthritic hands.

Goats: They've been a real learning experience. We've trimmed hooves twice. Thank goodness Greg built that goat stand. We can lure them up there and trim hooves while they're busy chowing down. It still takes us a long time, but we're getting the hang of it.

The buck hasn't come into rut yet, but he's becoming interested in the does. So far, the girls want nothing to do with him, but with any luck, we might get a pregnancy before the end of the year. 

Billy has been manageable, but he's hurt me twice without trying. I'd hate to think what he'd do to me if he was angry. I keep a spray bottle of water with me to keep him from getting up in my face. If he becomes a problem he may have to go into barbecue. That's entirely up to him. Wish I could convey that to him.

Nana has been a good herding dog, keeping them at bay, but the buck often turns to challenge her. She bit him on the ear and he backed down. I won't take her into the pen unless Greg is with me. She's still a baby and it's just a game to her. I don't want her to face the buck until she has a little more experience.

Scorpions: We are claiming a tentative success against the scorpions. After examining the house from top to bottom, we think we've removed all but the most difficult access points. I haven't seen a scorpion in the house for three weeks. And this is when they're most active.

But we did find this outside. 

She was in one of the sprinkler control boxes buried in the ground. Those little things on her back are babies. Lots and lots of babies. We wiped out the entire generation without remorse.

Wildlife: There were deer tracks in the front yard. This is where I have lots of American beauty berry bushes. The deer like to eat the berries. Oddly enough, the goats have a few bushes in their pen, but they're not crazy about the taste.

Coyotes have been sparse this year, which is good. But I still see a few feral pigs dead on the side of the road. 

A few more weeks of hot weather and maybe we can cool down to the 80s in October. Both man and beast alike are looking forward to that.


So how about you? What's new?

And who's ever seen a scorpion carrying her babies? I'm telling you, it gave me the chills. All those stingers. Eek!

Find anything unusual by you?