You've stepped in it

Doesn't Miss Rubes look comfortable? Move over Ruby...!

Well, been a week. Cleaned a set of tack for Maya, fitted the bridle, and then couldn't get the bigger girth over her fat gut. I might try switching saddle pads and see if that helps.

Did the Jenny Nash bucks with B. The bucks have taken to going wayyyy down in the woods while we clean. Quite a hike to bring them in.

Did laundry. Got skunked(no fish) Mackeral fishing along with everyone else on the Breakwater, according to passerby reports. Lost a four dollar lure. Had Peko drag me backwards off my ass onto the granite trying to hold him off..a beagle? And then a German Shepard, and a Cairn Terrier....He is going to get banned for his non- existent doggie manners the next trip.

We saw some sort of sea duck flock fishing, so we moved over to cast near there. One giant cast from the Firebird, and we waited to see the splash of the lure, and slpposh! Right next to the closest duck, at least 75 yards away.maybe not that much, but far..The bird jumped and flapped and it, and the rest, quickly swam away throwing furtive glances over their shoulders expecting another sploosh...TG he didn't snag the bird, but it was quick a freak thing.



Then I broke my cobbled together pole by slamming it in the hatch. Two trips, two poles now...

Today I went to the dump. See slug photo on other blog. Stopped at the grocery store, and Willow spied something on the floor in the checkout Aisle. I drew the attention of the cashier and said, "maybe it is chocolate," and then in response to the disgusted expression on the face of the nice lady in front of me, "well, or something less desirable...."

NOt just leaving it there, I go on to add, "well, I thought it was peppermint pattie, it smells rather minty over here, and then Willow, "no it isn't, I see YELLOW<"

Which promptly causes a small gag reflex from the lovely lady in line ahead of us, "please excuse her,"I said, *giggling uncontrollably,* "she is quite graphic, it's the artist in her,"

The manager, coming around the corner with a handful of towels, "you've stepped in it,!" and yes, I had, and it was definitely not a minty odor that ensued when she proceeded to smear it at my feet with a handful of papertowels...Yes, I stepped in something at the checkout that either fell out of a diaper or a pantleg.

How do you top that? Well, it was in the eighties today!!! Yah! So I spent the afternoon in the garden, tying the tomatoes, hilling the squash and zuccini, weeding, weeding, weeding. I had the brilliant idea to plant moneywort in my paths years ago, and it decides it likes the logs edging the beds better, and hey, look, beds! So it needs constant attention to keep it from taking over the world. IT is blooming now, though, pretty little yellow star shaped flowers.

The second brilliant idea was to hedge one path with peppermint, oh I see you experienced herbologists are laughing yourselves sick, knowing what a rampant spreader mint can be. Still, I whacked the hedge into shape again and threw the cuttings all over the outdoor chicken pen-Phew, did that help?

I found a bunch of worms working in the garden, so I took the kids fishing late afternoon. Phoenix stuck his brand new lure in the weeds before I had Willow's hook baited, then Willow caught one of her "Feastie friends" the tiny sunfish, which I released unharmed after he flopped back onto the beach at our feet before flipping back and away.

The Firebird came back with boogie board and swim trunks, the better to retrieve the lure out of the pickerel weed, and ended up swimming while Willow tried, unsuccessfully, to fish at the dam. The Firebird had the best idea. (swim)

Had a moment of panic that the fridge wasn't working but it's fine and has ice cream and freeze pops and extra milk and juice and ice cubes. The electric meter was read yesterday, so it should be fairly simple to see how much more electricity we use.

Lots going on

Been working a lot at the farm. R found another job, and the owners are leaving for Sweden next week for two weeks. I agreed to work the bucks tomorrow, and clean some riding tack.

A few weeks ago I had proposed working the fat older mare to help condition her and also have an excuse to teach Willow to ride. Initial inspection showed me the tack was in desperate need of attention, so I did get the saddlepads and girths to the laundramat, but didn't reassemble the saddles since they need a good cleaning and oiling and a close inspection for rot and cracks.

So hopefully I will have time to do that in the am. I used to clean 7 saddles and bridles at a local stable once a week as a teen for a free lesson (we were called shiners), but these will require more time- since it is not just a touch-up.

Just got off the phone with Boss and she also asked if I could be a contact person while she is away for folks that want to see the goats and/or fiber in the cottage. So that's a cool responsibility, as long as I can mange the finicky lock on the cottage!

Phew. Can't believe it is the middle of July. Haven't done nearly enough around here!

We did get a new to us fridge yesterday. P's Mom had a small camp fridge=at least twice the size of our last one, a dorm style fridge. It has an interior freezer, and I just put an ice cube tray in there/ Wow ice! And enough room in the fridge for all kinds of more stuff like a jug of water and produce. Willow shined it all up and now the rest of the kitchen looks shabby! So that gives you an idea if an old camp fridge can brighten my kitchen! Hehe. Good thing I bought that cheap gallon of white paint this week!

Now if they weather would dry up and I could buy some time... :)

Goats and a Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm is putting it mildly. I finished the dishes around 10 pm last night just as the Firebird came down for a drink of water and a chat. I saw light flashing in the low cloud cover which has been persisting all week. First I thought it was heat lightning, and then I thought it was reflection from far away fireworks. I could even hear a distant, "Boom, boom."

Around 11 we realized it was an encroaching storm, as I tried in vain to watch the 11 pm news while the digital signal cut out with every flash. Occasionally the anchorwoman's face would freeze and we would laugh at her, then the screen would go blank. Making sense of it was useless, so I decided to go to bed.

The Firebird was directed to stay on the couch, since his second floor bedroom is right inside the drop for the powerline. Well, a few minutes later the house was shaking with the thunder crashes, and then we had a hit. You know, when the lightning and thunder strike at the same time. Crap.

I roused Willow from a deep sleep and put her down on the smaller couch and put my blankets on the floor. No sleeping at that point, though. Finally around 1am I decided it was safe for the kids to go back to bed, with the storm still raging to the east of us. I had farm and friends in mind, as I knew they were getting clobbered.

I looked out and saw the brooder light was off in the chicken coop, even though we (amazingly) still had power. I knew then the electric fence had taken a direct hit. Both extension cords are on the same GFI outlet, so I booted up and went outside and re-set the outlet. The light came on in the coop, but the charger stayed silent. Uh-oh.

Praying it was just the fuses, I tore apart the tool area twice looking for fuses so I wouldn't have to do it in the am. We had farm duty on the morning roster. Finally at 2 am after going over everywhere twice, including under the fridge (can you say, "ewwwww....?") I gave up. I did find 5 packs of sparklers for the fourth of July, though.

I knew the goats would respect the fence-most likely-for at least the morning, so we headed to the farm. I ran some errands afterwards and replaced the fried fuses and did get the charger going without having to replace it, and I did thank God. :)

I took a bunch of pix at the farm. Willow has been heartbroken: her favorite doeling is going to Colorado soon...She has cried several times over it, so I thought I would get their pic today.



Here is Lois, who yells incessantly in the morning until she gets her grain. I asked Boss if hay might help, and the result was Lois yelling with her mouth stuffed full, which did give Boss and I a good laugh.



Here is Emerson, a wether:





Jackson foreground, Jasper to the right, Bonnie behind, and shy Sandhja in the rear.




Here is Francis and Uureka's little first place buckling:




And one more of Willow with her faves: Coretta's little doe on the left, Bonnie's little buck on the right:

Sometimes I miss the city. Like yesterday, when we had to drive over twenty miles to a Maine city for our weekly or bi-weekly stock up. What I save on grain alone more than pays for the extra gas-it's almost ten miles from here to the nearest store for milk.

I was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC. A couple blocks from home was my elementary school, and just past that what is now called a strip mall, with a grocery store, bakery, deli, and drug store. We would get a quarter (.25) and pig out on candy~ raisinets, chuckles, almond joys...comic books for a dime. Donuts every Sunday from the bakery...

My mother allowed me my freedom at a young age-I remember thinking, "I am old enough to go to the store alone?"

By age 11 we had a new dog . I was training basic commands and the best trick-how to jump over my leg or through a hula hoop...she was my ticket to real freedom. Not far past the school was an edge of Rock Creek Park-I found out years later it was actually private adjacent woodland. With the dog as company, I was allowed access by my mother to roam the trails with a command to "stay out of the creek". We pushed those limits, oftentimes coming home soaked from a rotten log bridge breaking at a bad moment...

But how polluted could it really be, when we were catching minnows and crawfish for the home aquarium? And pollywogs, or tadpoles, from the vernal pools...

I really had the best of both worlds growing up, all that wildness, raccoons raiding the trash barrels at night, squirrels knocking on the windows for their peanuts~we even raised an orphaned grey squirrel, hence my soft spot for them to this day.

We still had culture right at our fingertips-sure the store was a ten minute walk, but I roamed the halls of the Smithsonian`Natural History, and was there at the opening of the Air and Space-or was that the opening of the Hirshorn? Or maybe I am dating myself and it was just the opening of special exhibits...The Pandas Ling-ling and Hsing-Hsing at the National Zoo...the Kennedy Center...

Even Boss was a bit surprised when she told me she had named Ursula's Boy Yul, for Yul Brynner, and asked if I knew who that was? And I could say, "sure, I saw him at the Kennedy Center in a one man play, "The Odyssey" many years ago...my mother loved him."

And she replied, "My mother loved him too."

Another Farm Day

Another day of barn chores at the farm today. S was working. Pretty funny, I have known him since he was in Kindergarten with my oldest and now I work with him occasionally! (reading that makes me feel OLD)

He is really easy to work with, being kind of new we have more conversation of where we are at with the chores. First the main barn cleaned and fed, then hold back the does and kids for hooves. Let the wethers out, catch the horses, bring them in for feed and grain. Then smoke break! :D

Mr. Boss asked us to unload the grain-I asked S to do it and volunteered to do "The Hill" with just Willow. "The Hill" is where the yearling bucks are right now-six of them. Well, served me right overfilling the waterbucket and then I had to lug it all the way up the hill. LOL.

Usually P locks the bucklings out to clean the house, but I let them in and they were no trouble. Willow and I had a great time visiting our favorites. I worked on the shyer ones with cheek scratches. Yul (formally Ursula's Boy) was so sweet!

Then the bucks at Jenny Nash. Boss decided it didn't need two adults and set S off at another chore so it was just Willow and I again. That is really the toughest part of the job. Four little houses and three big igloos-9 senior bucks and four two year olds...that is a lot of poop. Doesn't help that the drainage there is non existent-with the rain it can turn into a quagmire.

We were lucky today, and just as we were releasing the bucks (one of the last steps), it started to rain, and by the time I made it home, it was a downpour. All afternoon. Jeez, we are going to get washed away like my basil and swiss chard sproutlings. LOL.

I do have a few pumpkins that survived the slugs-it seems as though the slugs preferred them just as they are sprouting. I ringed all the mounds with ashes and that seemed to help, except when the rain soaked them. Then one day I spent an hour in the rain handpicking slugs-every slug I could find in that area. That was a gross job. I figured every slug I took would be one less to reproduce for next year.

***

Boss made me laugh today at the farm.

For background, my blog pseudonym is Tree Ocean, so I will use that in the story telling.

There is a doe at the farm that shares my first name-she was there before I started three years ago so she is not named after me.

There is a black locust tree that was in full bloom this past week, and I stopped to admire the fallen blossoms on Tuesday and saw more on the treetop. They look like pea blossoms.

Boss lets the goats out in the yard every morning while cleaning the barn.

Now to the story:

Boss said to me, "There were black locust flowers all over the old well and Tree (the goat) ate them all."

I expressed interest, recalling the blossoms and wondering in my head if the goat would get sick from eating a ton of them, running the pharmacopeia through my head and coming up empty on black locust toxicology...while Boss throws in..

"I was telling L ( her husband)Tree ate them all and he said, "Tree Ocean?" "

There ya go Mouse, waiting for THAT recipe....hehehe

Solstice Week

Well, it's been a busy week!

Monday and Tuesday we worked at the farm, barn chores.

That was a lot of hard work! Cleaning and feeding everybody. The baby goats are getting big and we had a chance to see the last set of twins just born-Carmella's little doe and buckling.

Strawberry picking is open at S's! Yeah, we were first for the night pick on Tuesday and picked a quick 8 pounds of juicy, organic, rain-saturated strawberries. In the summer twilight mist.

Laundry has been looming all week. Precluded by the The Firebird's ominous chant, "I'm getting low on underwear."

We finally cleared the decks enough to make the run today. Headed up the hill, the car suddenly started making a bigger noise than usual. Uh-oh. I pulled over at the top, flanked by waist high-hay fields and wildflowers, and assessed the situation. Hole somewhere in the exhaust. Great.

I weighed my options-two kids, the dog, and 7 loads of laundry and the laundramat, or the mechanics...

I opted to go with the plan and headed for town. The worst part of the trip was taking off from a stoplight... the car was louder than a harley. (well, an old Harley)

We walked over to the bank, across a main intersection, and it is hard to believe, but that was my kid's first experience pushing the walk button. I had a chance to explain that the walk buttons don't actually work; they are just there to give you something to do while you are standing there waiting for the light to change.

When the walk signal does come up, even walking quickly you will be unable to get halfway before the light goes out and traffic starts turning behind you.

By a stroke of timing, the Firebird had a chance to exclaim, "the button DOES work!" before the light went out half way across and we were nearly clipped by turning traffic. No, not really.

Well, we returned to the car to discover that the Firebird had snapped the tip off his fishing pole closing the car door. Irreparable under the circumstances.

See, we had negotiated a deal before we left (The Plan), where we would stop at McD's so the Firebird could get a large vanilla shake. He wanted it so bad he was bringing $10. This, in spite of the fact McD's was coming under strong protest from me, since due to a situation we had already had it for lunch the day before.

(But the Firebird didn't get the shake-it would've melted by the time he got it.)

Also, in spite of the fact that he had an upset stomach this am, and I didn't think a large McD's vanilla shake would help.

We traced this upset to the night before, when the Firebird was scarfing strawberries out of the basket, and Willow screaming, "But they're moldy! You're going to DIE soon!"

Ok, a little diarreha...

**

Willow's part of The Plan was to go mackerel fishing off the breakwater. Period.

Things went pretty well. I managed to eat another double sheeseburger for lunch, the shake did seem to sooth his stomach. And a quick trip to Walmart fixed the pole situation. Actually, I was looking for a specific mackerel lure I found online last night, and despite the rather extensive selection, the senior employee told me right off they didn't have it, and I asked what he recommended for mackerel?, and he said, "mackerel jig." Twins to the one already stowed in the fishing sack. Hmm. I scouted about and didn't find the lure. I bought a pack of three jigs, which gave them two apiece.(counting the one I had already)

I nearly bought the Firebird a sweet Zebco and then found a cheap display for $12 and bought one of those. I had to-they were called "The Firebird." NS

We roared (exhaust) into the lighthouse parking, and the Firebird struggled with the dog while I tied a snap swivel to his new pole, and simultaneously swatted hungry moose flies. You know, horse flies, but bigger. Bigger teeth, even.

At least one accomplished looking fisherman passed us by before we were underway.

Quite a few folks (four or five groups) were about the middle of the breakwater. Cool fishing guy ahead of us takes the dock, I tell the kids to try before we get to everyone else. So, I snap the mackerel jig onto Willow's Barbie pole swivel, and then the Firebird, or vice versa, and they both cast, and Willow is saying, "Mommie, I got one!"

Sure enough, she had a tinker mackerel. She was standing up on the breakwater, but there are bracing stones in places you can step down closer to the water, so I did to unhook the fish. He was hooked perfect!

Well I admit, I do like fresh mackerel, but I threw this one back expecting there would be more. Ha! No more! We kept moving further down the breakwater, much to Peko's chagrin. He does not like to stand around on the end of a leash. He whines and pants. I don't know what he was complaining about- over half the folks that walked by patted him.

Finally someone from the group we kept edging over to asked, "had any luck?"

"Yeah, she caught one her first cast further down, but then nothing."

So we tried the ocean side of the breakwater, and Willow promptly snagged up on a rock in the seaweed and we lost her lure number one.

We switched back, and they kept casting. I even had a few casts with the Firebird. With that snap and mackerel lure on there, I could cast very far out. So that was fun, sitting there catching seeweed. Until Willow hooked a buoy. She though she had her line snagged , and I started pulling. It was pulling very hard, but I was bringup up slack. Then I realized a lobster buoy was heading towards the breakwater. I could not pull that thing close enough to the rock to free it. The Firebird offerred to jump in after it. Yeah, right.

I could see the hook on the line, and it was actually just hooked on it, not stuck in, so I pulled a bunch of slack and flipped it hard a couple times, and then it slipped free. I was worried it was going to snap in the seeweed, and gave it a big jerk, and the lure flew out of the water over our heads, (we ducked) to nearly impale to passerby on the breakwater behind us. Bad timing, or maybe good, since the keyword is here, nearly.

Well, I felt like a dumb blonde then and apologized profusely, as they kept walking on, saying something about "just being from Massachusetts..) Great, hook the tourists. LOL. Actually there were quite a few tourists, including a cute Amish couple, who were among those to pet the dog in passing.

But, no more mackerel.

Hooves

Anakin, Moonie, and Anna today.