Freaking Busy Day

Today was a BUSY BUSY BUSY day.

I got up early and took the cheese out of the press and put it in the air drying screened box.

Washed/dried laundry.

Sorted the mail.

Milked the goats, filtered and chilled the milk, took the does on a browse walk. Fed Noodle his bottle and cut browse for the bucks. (They are in a small pen for now.)

Dropped off outgoing mail at the post office in Alton.

Went to the bank.

Drove to Mammoth Spring for gasoline (15 cents a gallon cheaper than in Missouri), shopped at Hirsch Feed, Wal Mart, and Cover Lumber.

Drove back to Many Springs.

Ate lunch (thank you, Cyndy).

Cyndy and I worked on painting my bedroom. It has two coats of primer so far, and we are about half way through the first color coat.

Rick and Vance mowed here and at the cabin and filled in the skunk den access hole under the deck. They also put the new filter on the farm gas tank.

Made several phone calls about sinks and countertops. Called about transition pieces for the intersection between the vinyl plank and the sheet vinyl at the bathroom doorways.

Went back to Alton, bought goat feed, shopped at Dollar General and the grocery store.

Came back to Many Springs, unloaded feed, mixed the feed, put feed in the container in the milk house.

Spread flower seeds around the edges of the hay meadow, grass seed in a small area of the hay meadow for a test, and spread some fertilizer.

Fed goats, milked goats, filtered and chilled milk, gave Noodle his bottle.

Picked ticks. (Deep Woods Off is just *not* working effectively.) Took a shower. Ate some fruit salad.

I'm tired, but it's a good tired.

Flora and fauna

The Ozarks are a beautiful place. Lovely critters and growing things appear on a daily basis.

This black snake fell from the Mimosa tree outside the living room window. He had been climbing to have supper of baby birds from a wren's nest.


Tiny fungi grow beneath a stick on the forest trail where I take the goats for a browse walk. The cups of the fungi are so small that a pencil eraser would fill them.

Memorial Day

It has been a quiet day. The morning was blessed by a visit to Yarrow and Jessica's house. I hadn't seen Jess's son, Zade, in a year. He's quite the blue eyed toddler charmer. Yarrow and I talked about our plans for Permaculture and food forest plantings.

Lunch was a salad with egg and goat cheese and homemade goat yogurt ranch dressing.

While I was eating lunch, something fell from the Mimosa tree outside the living room windows. I saw it fall from the corner of my eye, and heard the THUMP. Looking out, I saw what appeared to be a piece of black garden hose at the base of the tree. Then, it moved. It was a rather magnificent black snake, who had been working his way up the tree to have his lunch of baby birds in a nest. After recovering from his fall, he slithered toward the house. NOT a good option, in my opinion. They are beneficial snakes, as they eat mice, but I don't relish his company IN the house. I tossed pebbles at him to discourage his progress in my direction, but now he's in a cart of construction debris. I'll get Vance to move the cart and unload it in the burning pit tomorrow..... warning him about the snake, of course.

The rest of the day was filled with paperwork, bookkeeping, and gardening. I think the paperwork and bookkeeping would be easier if I'd spend an hour a day on it, instead of marathon sessions. That's how I'm dealing with the gardening. I'm still planting in succession so as to extend the harvest.

Got in some yoga and slow undulations, which is helping my back recover from lifting a heavy window last spring.

Life is good.