The work on the "rental house" has come slow. We can see
the light at the end of the tunnel but getting there has been one
heavy step at at time. So much for July 1, we're well on our way to
Sept. 1 or later. BUT, we're not breaking our backs and trying not to
break our enthusiasm. Truth is, we have a lot going on at home too.
The electric fencer (the box that plugs into an outlet and
basically supplies electricity to the electric perimeter fence) was
the wrong one. All these years we had no idea! The goats had been
getting over into the neighbor's property day after day. It's a huge
issue when their front yard shares a fence with our back yard and
their garden area and lovely lawn is right there. Last Sunday we ran
another 3 strands of fencing which doesn't take terribly long but
after a little more research on the type of fencer I discovered why
we were having issues. Another trip to town to buy the right fencer
and all was zapping right! Except...yesterday (Wednesday) evening I
went out to do chores and check the pigs mud hole to discover they
may not have had water for a little while to do the fact somehow
somewhere the electric was jumping over to their automatic water
metal bowl and shocking them! Poor pigs! It's been close to 100 since
Monday and for the life of us we cannot figure out why or where the
current is coming from.The chore this weekend is to get the tractor
in there and shore up the area they have dug out nicely for a wallow
but it's also under mining the fence, to sink a post to attach the
auto-waterer to and call it a day.
We had to unhook the invisible fence (for the dogs) when we put up
new fence lines and for 3 days in a row now Snow has been out in the
early morning. It's just never ending it seems! This evening's chore,
as if there weren't enough is to hook the fence back up for the dogs
except we have to do some rearranging because the line their fence
was running on is now electrified so we have to go around the entire
perimeter and hook it up to another line. Sigh.
I am feeling better as far as the nasuea goes, it's all but gone
but I still tire easily. Granted, I am not sleeping well at night
either. I'll sleep a few hours and be up or a few hours, try to get a
few hours before he break of day but wake up so tired that sometimes
it's better had I not fallen back to sleep. I've had that horrible
sleep cycle since Drew was born. Occasionally (every couple of weeks)
I'll get one good interrupted 8 hours of sleep and be "good to
go" for another couple of weeks. I am not one for naps, but
generally I have to catch a 1.5-2 hour one daily. I guess it's a good
time for it though because it's so hot out during the day anyway that
there isn't much else TO do.
The temps the last couple weeks have been unbearable. I won't
complain too much. The reality is the summer has been pretty nice and
we're in for another cool down, so they say. The garden went to heck
while we were in Ca. ll the rain we got really got the pigweed
growing well and it was just too much to deal with when we got back.
We tried, Jeremiah and I, spend a good few hours in there but it just
did so little bit of good that we gave up. I've weed eated a bath
through the bermuda and pig weed so we could get to the tomatillos
and tomatoes and so that's what it's been. The luffa and gourds are
still growing, I expect once things start to die back I can get in
there and gather those.
My first sonogram was last Monday. All looks well. I had an AFP
(Alpha-fetoprotein- screens for Downs Syndrome, Trisotomy 18, Spina
Bifida) test done by blood work. The test results came back normal. I
debated having it done. I am not "old" but odds do increase
quite a bit after 30 compared to being in one's 20's though still the
odds are quite low in the broad scheme of things. On that note, if
something like Trisotomy 18 were to show up, I'd want to know so that
we could prepare ourselves ahead of time. I hate the thought of
having a bunch of sad people after being so excited to hear the news.
That said, the test isn't fool proof but is 80% accurate.
Our next sonogram is Sept. 15, the half way mark and that should
be it unless something comes up. The insurance plan has us at a
hospital in Wichita. I am not thrilled about that due to distance and
potential weather in Feb. but it is a good hospital and for that I am
grateful. I will give the insurance company a ring and see what the
odds are of changing it but if it's Wichita, it's Wichita.
The goat herd has been whittled down quite a bit. I still have a
couple of individuals for sale and will have a few more later in the
year. We've had a lot of hens go broody and hatched out quite a few
new chicks this summer. It looks like we have one last hen sitting on
a nest that is probably due to hatch any day now. We've lost a lot of
the chicks to hawks and such. Once they leave mom at about 4 weeks
they tend to get taken pretty easily. I don't feel like putting them
all into a chicken tractor (roving coop) as that means extra feed and
filling water. Right now we feed so little with as much as they all
forage that I figure the cost of loosing some is worth the savings of
work and feed. That may sound kind of awful but it is what it is. One
mama hen has successfully managed to keep her brood of 8 safe. She's
taken refuge in the pig pasture where there is a lot more tree
coverage. We'll see how many chicks end up making it to pullet size,
determine which are hens and which are roosters and then cull the
rest of the flock based on those #'s. I know we have entirely too
many roosters currently. We caught quite a few and send them home
with a friend. They aren't worth our time to butcher them for dinner.
There are 2 more I'd like to catch but they've gotten smart and have
started roosting in the trees.
Our boar (male pig) went off to the processor a week ago. Keeping
him at near 500 lbs. was getting too expensive. I have a couple of
ideas for breeding our sows but for now, we don't need him. We have a
sow due at the end of the month. In fact, I have to get out there and
try to get her moved over to a pen and shelter. She shares the
pasture with her 2 Feb. piglets, one of them our new gilt we'll keep
as a breeding sow (another reason for moving our boar on as he was
her sire). I only took 6 piglet reservations for the next litter. I
expect to keep a few for us to raise up too. We need to get 1/4 beef
too but there's still plenty of time for that. What there's not
plenty of time for is putting up hay. We were in Ca. when brome
(grass) was cut. I had wanted to put up 100 bales of those but it
would have been a special request to have small squares done by our
supplier so we just asked they everything be put in to rounds. We've
picked up 5 already and will be going out for at least another 6 some
time this weekend I think. I thought about maybe going back to
alfalfa hay instead of the pellets. For a while there the girls
weren't eating them but all the sudden they changed their minds and
so I think we'll just keep on keeping on with that. They are more
expensive but take up so little room, are always available and
there's no waste.
The rental house we still him and haw about what we're going to do
with. I think with everything that's going on, it may be best just to
sell it when it's complete. I cannot imagine having a rental property
to deal with too. We aren't disappointed we bought it, life has just
changed a bit and we're trying to decide what's the best decision to
make. It still has to be finished though and that includes a
little more painting, finishing the tile floor in the kitchen, 6
interior doors, installing 2 exterior doors, fixing the little roof
on the ornamental well out back and few other odds and ends.
The upstairs bathroom and pretty much the entire upstairs, aside from
some baseboards in the bathroom, is done.
Hutch. schools are back in session. The kids don't go back until
after Labor Day. It's been a nice longer summer. Their school class
roster came out yesterday, they are excited. I know being at a bigger
school will be a change but they will enjoy it I am sure. It's
farther away of course but we're set up to carpool with one of
Rachel's friends. Jeremiah will take them in in the morning and they
will be brought home afterward.
With Hutch. schools back in session the pool in Hutch is now
closed. The Buhler pool though is still open and I took the kids up
yesterday afternoon to swim for a couple of hours. Drew desperately
needs to work on his swimming skills. He wants to go off the diving
board but is just not swimming well enough I am confident there won't
be issues. Rachel has always been a great swimmer and we've asked her
several time if she might like to join a team but she's quite happy
just being a guppy for fun and will literally spend an hour and a
half jumping of the board over and over and over. The Buhler pool is
small but was pretty quiet yesterday. Mostly moms with their younger
kids trying to beat the heat. We'll try to go a few more times before
the end of the month I think. It's cheap and close enough
entertainment, that's for sure. In fact, driving up to Buhler is
closer than driving all the way over to the west side of Hutchinson.
Mot days seem to roll one right into the next. Some days we're
busy, other days are slow.Time to get started with the day.
New baby's first photo
Drew helping with barn chores in his PJ's
A cool breezy start to Tuesday morning. We had a nice storm blow though last night which dumped some rain which was badly needed. Rachel was invited to a sleep over last Friday which we were getting ready to take her to before 6 when the clouds rolled in, the thunder and lightening started. I raced to get the clothes in off the line and not a minute too soon because the sky opened up and then we lost power. I had intended to make nachos for dinner but that was out of the question so Drew, Jeremiah and I headed to town to grab a bite. We got back just before 8 and later I found out exactly what happened but not knowing at the time, it looked like all hell broke loose. It's odd how storms can be so strong in one area and non-existent a few miles away. Not 5 miles north after dropped Rachel off there was barely a sprinkle, at our house though and further south, 70 MPH straight line winds snapped power poles along highway 50 which is what knocked out our power, took down a tree in the front yard smashing a metal trellis and plastering the south side of the house with debris.
