Shenanigans

The animals are throwing me for a loop today. 

This morning, I didn't notice any goats outside eating their hay, which was a little surprising but not out of the realm of possibilities. They do have hay inside the shed. A couple hours later I heard Jip barking up a storm. 

I peeked out the bedroom window and again didn't see anything wrong in the pasture. But Jip was barking so insistently I looked out a front-facing window... the goats were out! 😩 

A quick check of the pasture gate showed that it was closed, so they had to have escaped a different way. 

I threw on chore clothes and ran outside (leaving Jaron to finish his breakfast on his own for the time being). My mind raced to all the tender leafy plants just making their appearance on our homestead: the fruit trees finally leafing out, the hostas (nailed by the goats so often last year) poking up, a bunch of trees and shrubs yet to be planted, my colorful flower pots... 

The goats didn't go back in nicely as I hoped. I also couldn't see where they had gotten out. And then I heard Gerda's whining cries from inside the shed. She sounded like she felt left out and/or was stuck, so I figured the goats had somehow gotten to the other side from inside the shed.

I went back in the house to grab Jaron. He was thrilled to go outside so early in the morning! I corralled three of the goats back into their pen. Then we went to check out the shed

This is what we found. 

And then witnessed the goats I had just chased back inside jump right back out the chicken side. 🤦‍♀️ 

So, I blocked the chicken door so the goats couldn't escape the shed, chased the goats back onto their own side through the human door, and moved the bail so they wouldn't be able to hop over the pallets separating the two sides. It took a long time to get Gerda unstuck. Her horns wouldn't go back through the small opening. I ended up cleaning out the hay that had been blocking the underside of the hole, giving her more room to pull her head through. Whew! 

What a morning. 

And it wasn't over yet. 

This next story is not for the faint of heart... 🥺

A friend of mine came by later in the morning to pick up her weekly dozen eggs. She and her son like to look at the animals when they do their pickup. She sent me this text, "Heads up I think Jip either killed or has nearly killed one of your chickens. Black and white speckled, did not get close enough to verify if it was dead but it was not moving at all."

Heart sinking, I raced outside again. 

One of the trampoline chickens was huddled on the ground within Jip's tether range. My best guess is that it wandered within Jip's reach, thought it could escape into the shed, and didn't realize there was a fence blocking the way. That happened the other day with a couple mature chickens and thankfully I was outside to intervene. We definitely need to cut a chicken escape hole in the corner of the fence. 

Jip was excited to see me, not really paying attention to the bird. But the damage had already been done. The poor thing had a big gaping wound between its neck and shoulder. It was shaking, clearly in shock. I picked it up and brought it into the garage to put with the two little ducklings that recently hatched. 

Part of me hoped that we would be able to nurse it back to health, but the realistic side of me knew that we were going to have to put it out of its misery...

I had hoped G would volunteer to do it once he got home from work, but in the middle of busy season, who knows when that would be. He told me I had to do it. 😫 I knew he was right. 

You'd think growing up on a farm would have prepared me for this more, however, most of the time nature took its course before we needed to intervene. That or my dad took care of it. There's only one time I can ever remember putting down an animal, and that was back in high school. Something was wrong with one of the baby lambs, and the vet said it was not going to make it. She recommended putting it out of its misery. I remember giving her the go-ahead and she gave it a shot. I'll never forget watching the life slowly drain out of this poor little lamb's eyes. Later, Dad chastised me a bit because the shot cost $60 (or was it more? I remember it was a lot) and we could have taken care of it ourselves.

Back to present day. I had hoped my in-laws would be available to watch Jaron while I did the necessary task. No such luck. So, with a heavy heart I strapped Jaron to my back and went outside to grab the chicken. I started crying before I even got to the spot I chose to put it out of its misery. And once I had taken care of it, I sobbed harder than I have in a long time. Thankfully since he couldn't see my face, Jaron thought my crying was actually laughter and he laughed to copy me. 

We went in the house and read books and snuggled until I felt better. 

I really hope this isn't a frequent occurrence. I don't know if my heart can handle it. 😭

Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest

I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's my mom's from my childhood - the Toll House cookie recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. G isn't a huge fan of it, so I'm on the hunt for a recipe we both like. 

Attempt #2 was a recipe given to me by a fellow food-loving friend. She got it from Sally's Baking Addiction. 

Initial thoughts - decent taste but a pretty putsy recipe. 

The dough is so soft, you're supposed to refrigerate for two hours, preferably overnight. 

Her other tip was to form them in balls, then squish them into cylinders (taller than they are wide) to also help them not spread too much. 

I did both and they turned out a good size. I don't love how pale they are. The instructions said to bake until just the edges were golden and the middle would look unset. 

You're supposed to leave them on the pan for 10 minutes before taking them off to cool further. That allows them to bake more and set up. 

Still the innards seemed a little uncooked (which might be the goal for extra soft and gooey cookies). I've discovered I like my cookies a nice golden brown all over. G hasn't tasted these yet, so his vote is still undetermined.

All in all, great tasting cookies, but not my go-to cookie recipe due to the extra steps. I'll continue the hunt! 

Pikler Triangle

This little guy likes to move. 

I heard on a podcast that Pikler triangles are excellent for growing babies' muscles and coordination naturally through play. Then we visited friends who had a little arch/slide combo in their living room. Jaron climbed all over that thing! 

So I searched marketplace. Nothing was exactly what I was looking for. Ebay had a few options though! And reasonably priced! I chose this set in the end because it seemed the most sturdy. It can hold 150lbs or up to three kids. 

As you can see, it has a lot of pieces. 

It took a while to put together! Jaron helped by handing me screws. 

The bases slide on our smooth floor, so I took an old yoga mat to be a base for the arch and slide. 

So far Jaron hasn't been too interested in it on his own. I've gotten him to go down the slide a couple times. He seems to like the round bars as opposed to the flat rectangle bars. I think once his balance improves, he'll be more in to it. 

Same with the actual Pikler triangle. He's not quite ready to climb it, so I have it folded up against the wall for now. 

I love that the color scheme matches our living room!

Corralling Chickens (and Goats)

The poor pasture has been mown down by the goats. I don't blame them. Tasty fresh grass is hard to pass up! But it certainly isn't helping the grass grow thicker. 

G finally made the time to put up a temporary fence to keep the goats close to the shed. They have plenty of hay to eat, and this will give the grass time to grow in.

Poor Jip doesn't like being away from his goat buddies. 

As I said, plenty of hay. Look how deep it is in there!

Another view of the new fence. We'll take the opportunity to split the pasture in two so we can rotational graze once the grass is taller. 

The chickens continue to push their boundaries. G reached his and put a piece of fencing from the corner of the garden to the pasture fence to keep the chickens from getting in the wind break/ common area of the development next door. 

Unfortunately, it blocks our easy path to the in-laws. I guess we'll have to go around. Hopefully the chickens don't figure that trick out! 😅

There was a lot of wind in the forecast so G flipped up the uninstalled duck pond in front of the trampoline door to be a wind block for the young chickens. It's been a hit so far! I've seen a number hanging out underneath. 

Rain was also in the forecast, so Jaron and I spread some fresh seed in the pasture before it came. Just an ice cream pail full. I'll do another round in a few weeks. The soil conference taught me it's more successful to seed lightly and often to better hit good germination and growing weather. 

The front yard got a sprinkling of wildflower seeds. Our goal is to fence that area to make a third pasture for the goats to browse. 

Fruit Fences

The chickens sure love to scratch up the mulch around the trees and berry bushes. The berry bushes are just starting to leaf out, and we don't want anything eating them, so I put up a fence. 

Jaron has been interested in grass, sticks, and rocks on the ground, so I left him examining the lawn while I briefly gathered supplies in the garage. 

I came out to discover he was coming to find me walking along the orchard fence. 

So determined! 

He eventually ended up riding along in the baby carrier on my back. 

I made a straight line for the fence using a long extension cord. Wooden stakes and a mallet built the support. 

I stretched old chicken wire along the fence and stapled it to the stakes. 

Pretty quick to put it together that way. The only downside was the piece I used was about six feet too short. 

I found a different piece that fit perfectly, but it's not the same height; it's a foot shorter than the longer piece. Hmm. Cut a piece of tall fencing to fill the gap or deal with a shorter section on one end? I'm leaning towards the latter.

In other news, the chickens have been loving their dust baths. The levels are lower than when I started, so eventually I might have to refill. Guess I better get more sand. 

Another interesting thing I noticed recently is that we have something sprouting in the compost area. 

My guess is it's old chicken feed. Seems like they've been eating the sprouts, so it's not getting wasted! 

Butteries and Nutella

G and I are watching the very first seasons of the Great British Baking Show. It's been interesting to compare early seasons with the most recent ones- what's changed, how they tweak things week to week that more closely match the show today. 

I found a recipe I wanted to try and actually made it right away: butteries. They're a little putsy, but seem like they're hard to mess up. 

The dough comes together quickly, then you have to do a step every half hour. 

They're a bit like a croissant crossed with a roll. So in keeping with croissants, you need to create layers and lamination. 

The fat is a combination of butter and lard you spread on with your hands. Look how big the chunks are... You can see them through the layer of dough. 

But after all the steps, I did achieve layers!!!

You're supposed to form them into a rustic roundish shape. ✅

Bake until golden brown.

They taste absolutely delicious, warm or cold. Jam or butter is spread on the flat side. This morning I had the idea nutella would be a great pairing. Of course we didn't have nutella, but we had the ingredients. I found a recipe that said it only took 15min to make. Perfect. 

1.5h later...

What took so long?? Well, the oven had to heat up to 400F to roast the hazelnuts, which took a while. Then the hazelnuts didn't peel like they were supposed to. I should've had them in the oven longer because they came out of the freezer. So I ended up doing little bits at a time, throwing the pan in the oven again, over and over. 🙄 

The food processor took a while too. But eventually it ground down to a smoothish liquid. 

It didn't taste as sweet as I'd like, but since I'm trying to cut down on sugar, I'll leave it. 

The buttery did taste fantastic smothered in the homemade nutella. 😋

Spring Blooms

G brought home some color for our planters. I love it! 

The best part is, once they're done flowering, we can plant them elsewhere to bloom next year. 

Many things are sprouting on the homestead...

Rhubarb. Has it been here for three years? I might be able to harvest some this year. 

Chives in the orchard. 

In Bekhor's area bulbs I planted in the past are coming up! I also planted some daffodils that were finished flowering. Should be nice and springy next year.

Oregano coming up in the garden from last year. Also lovage, which looks kind of like celery.

I had a ton of lettuce to plant, but instead of doing each kind separately, I mixed all the seeds together and scattered them around three different garden plots. Hopefully that was not a mistake. 😅