Cold weather gratitude

It's January 12, and we are having our coldest weather thus far this winter. It was 31 when I got up this morning, and we warmed up to about 42. Pretty cold for South Texas!

I'm so grateful for a large stack of firewood and our wonderful wood heater in the living room. We've heated with wood since 1980, and I love wood heat! It's constant and soothing.

The insulated clothing industry also has my gratitude. Without layers of warm clothing, tending the animals would be MUCH more painful.

Soup will be on the menu tonight I think. Hooray for soup weather!

2011 - a Gratitude Journal

My goal here is to spend some time and bandwidth to record what I'm grateful for. It's so easy to focus on the negative things and to let one's thoughts become mired in the negative.

Today is 1/1/11. A good new beginning!

I'm grateful for having spent the Christmas holiday with Nathan and Cole, and for having Travis, MaryAlice, and Arielle come down here for New Year's weekend. The blessings of healthy children and grandchildren can not be underestimated!

Thursday, Cheese Day, June 10, 2010

My "to do" list today was bigger, but Cyndy, the lady who cleans, showed up when I wasn't expecting her till NEXT Thursday, so I had to scurry around putting up clutter.

In between all that, I made a batch of feta and a batch of camembert. The feta is ready, and I'll bring some to you tomorrow or whenever is convenient.

The little camembert rounds are SO CUTE! I'm hoping they get nicely moldy by the time Cole is here. That's "Gran's White Goat Cheese."

Cheesemaking is labor intensive, especially with two batches going. There's frequent temperature checking, stirring, additions to the milk, timing each stage, etc.

I got *none* of the outside work done, but I did make a back up table cloth for the little outside table and a sleeveless shirt.

Also, I've made contact with a geriatric specialist in Jonesboro and one in Mountain Home. Dr. Thompson's office lied about Lonnie's health insurance not covering him if he went into Arkansas.

We're waiting to hear about an appointment in Mountain Home. He has one in Jonesboro, but it's not till mid-July.

I made four little goat cheese and Swiss Chard quiches for lunch. WOO HOO!

It was a good day, just not quite what I'd planned.

Busy Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Really good day. I mixed buck feed, and I don't need to get more feed till Friday. (Maybe we can NOT go somewhere for a couple of days?)

Cleaned all the waterers and decided to ask on the goat boards if anyone uses an additive to keep the algae down.

Trimmed back some of the trees by the garden, fed the trimmings to goats.

Weeded.

Planted okra again. I have leftover okra seed and some of the wax bean seeds for you.

Watered the garden, the flowerbed by the bird baths, and the mint/herb bed.

Put out tick granules so that we won't have any bugs in the yard when Nathan and Cole come for Father's Day.

Got the hoop house down and out of the Forest Goat Pen.

Made Chicken Chinese and Veggie stir fry for lunch.

Played Farkel.

Took a nap.

Fixed Hibiscus Mint tea.

Pete got the tiller started, so I'll use it tomorrow to work on the compost.

Made a draw string edged little tablecloth for the table outside the back door. Looks better than stained plastic.

Salad supper: Caprese salad, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli salad.

It was SO hot this afternoon that I didn't take the goats on their browse walk until after supper. Pete had brought the flat bed trailer back, so everyone except Princess spent some time playing on it. Kate and Abby spent MOST of the half hour on the trailer.

Starting to milk Cassie in PM, too. She's weaning Abby.

Dessert will be vanilla ice cream with raspberries.

Report end. ROFL.

Triplets!

At 8:00 am, all was normal. Cassie ate breakfast and finished the remainder of Feline's.
I went back at 9:20 to check on them, and Cassie was plowing up all the bedding and had half of it completely dug up, down to the dirt. I fenced her in the back half of the goat shed.
Nothing much going on at 10:00, except some humming and a bit of digging.
At 11:00 she had Abby almost clean and dry. I called Lonnie.
At 11:10 she had Gibbs, but was busy with Abby, so I removed the amnionic sack from his face and started to rub him. When the cord separated, I put him in front of Cassie to clean. Lonnie got to the barn and settled in the sun with Abbie and a towel, and said, "There comes another one."
At about 11:20 she had Ducky. I scrubbed him with a towel, and turned him over to Cassie.

She had a few more contractions, and we thought there might be more kids, but she just passed afterbirth, etc. We've been out several times to take more pics and to cuddle them

They were up and on their feet and sucking faster than the full size goats. Still, Abby is the only vocal one, except Gibbs squeaked once when stepped on. Lonnie has been sitting in the sun and holding them one at a time, and Ducky just curls up and goes to sleep.

Abby and Gibbs are very hard to tell apart. All three kids are tri-color, brown/white/black. Abby and Gibbs have a balance of the three colors, but Abby has just a bit more brown, mostly on the back of her neck. Gibbs is more silver/grey where his black and white mix over his hips. Ducky is much darker. He's dark chocolate brown on the front end, black on the back end. His white is limited to a white sunburst on his forehead, white on his tiny ears, a spot on white under his chin, and about ten white hairs on his left side over his ribs.

Each of them weighs about 3 1/2 pounds. Each is 8 inches from the base of the back of the neck to the base of the tail, and they are about 10 1/2 inches tall at the shoulder. Just about the size of a half grown cat, I guess. Abby and Gibbs have soft hair, but Ducky's is more coarse.

After they were up and about, we moved them to a clean area, with a little goat hut and a small fenced paddock. They spent the afternoon sleeping in the sun, getting up and nursing, and generally getting licked over and over by Cassie. The licking instinct is very strong in new goat mothers.

We wondered if Cassie would be able to get them up in the goat hut for the night, as it's built with a wooden pallet for the foundation, and the step up is about four inches, but apparently they go where the milk is. When we went out to milk, Cassie and all three of the kids were in the hut. No problem!

A Quilting I Will Go

Thanks to this wonderful grey, wet, and cold winter, I've spent quite a few hours in my sewing/quilting studio. My studio is the back room of my Office of Multiplicity, across the two lane farm road from my home. Through four large windows, it faces a shady backyard and a wild overgrown field full of birds, deer, bobcats, and other creatures.

I'm turning out quilt tops and learning to machine quilt, too.

My two machines are both Baby Lock brand. I have an Esante' and a Quilter's Choice Professional.

Deep Freeze in Texas!

This is most certainly not the normal winter on the coastal plain of Texas. We've had temps down in the mid 20's the last two nights. Yesterday (January 10, 2010) the high was 38 degrees.

Luckily, we had no freezing precipitation.

I got all the water pipes insulated, etc., EXCEPT for the lines to the cattle troughs. I completely forgot those, and there was a beautiful ice sculpture out there.

The rent houses apparently came through OK, except for a line INSIDE the garage at the Doll House. Luckily, one of the neighbors saw the water running out and called. It took only a quick fix to cut the line and install a cut off valve. As it was Saturday afternoon, that was all that we could do. I'll finish the repair and hook the water to the clothes washer again on Monday.

Changes of plans

I'm starting to think that this kind of day is funny.

I *thought* I was going to make Brie and take down some bushes.

Then, it started raining.

I got the Brie working and decided to use the rest of the milk and make chevre, too.

And the plumber showed up.

And the carpenters who are putting in new soffits showed up.

And we had an electrical problem.

And there was no water to cool the milk for the chevre.

And we had to go to town to get electrical parts.

And Lonnie decided we needed to eat at Benita's Cafe.

So, the Brie curds are a little dryer than I wanted as they go into the molds.

Then he wanted me to install the new plug, and he told me the wrong way to hook up the wires the first time.

But, at 12:30, the water is back on, and the chevre milk is cooling, and the electricity works again.

Life is good..... and funny.

Alice

Waltz Across Texas

All of Friday, June 20, was spent driving from Many Springs, Missouri, to Austin, Texas. The first part of the trip went wonderfully well, but in Bald Knob, Arkansas, a funny rattle developed in the back of my blue 2001 Toyota Previa. I suspected I was losing (another) hubcap, but when I pulled off the road, there was a deep BUMP. Inspection revealed that the bottom attachment of my right rear spring had come loose. I called my resident experts, and they assured me that I'd be OK.

At the roadside rest stop in Hope, Arkansas, a couple of good ol' boys heard the BUMP and helped out by tying the shock absorber up and out of the way so that it didn't swing down and hit the ground and also wouldn't hit the inside surface of the tire. It didn't make any noise after that. The van has an appointment for repair on Monday.

I did stop at the Toyota dealership in Marshall, just to see if they could do anything, but they said that due to the age of the van, they didn't have the right parts in stock and no dealership would. I headed on down the road.

In Buffalo, Texas, I stopped to get a new cell phone charger for the car, as I had left mine in Missouri. This small delay was a blessing, as I was not in the vicinity of the wreck that I came upon just south of town. A semi truck with a flat bed trailer of large round hay bales lost three of the bales and totaled a Land Rover coming in the opposite direction. The Highway Patrol was getting there just as I arrived, and there were volunteers moving hay off the road.

The drive diagonally across Texas is incredibly long. There aren't many good radio stations, either. I listened to books on tape, CDs, and what little radio I could receive. I think I'm going to go ahead and put the Sirius receiver in whatever vehicle I take north again.

Cold, wet spring in Missouri

The weather here in south central Missouri has been persistently wet and cold since we got here. Lows in the low 50s, and if the afternoon temp makes it to the mid 70's, it's a miracle!

The rain has made it hard to get to the cabin by road. We've been there on the four wheeler by going through the woods twice, and by the road once after it didn't rain for about 36 hours. Still had to use the four wheel drive about half way in on the county road. I'm going to have to talk to the county commissioner again to get more chat (crushed rock) put down.

We have the garden part way in. Planted: tomatoes, peppers, rhubarb, butternut squash, basil, and parsley. Seeds in: beans, squash, swiss chard.

It's raining again now, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. We'll get the rest of the seeds in after a few days of sun... whenever that happens.

Mild Rant about Medical System

I had the ultrasound after the doctor felt lumps in my thyroid. The result says there are cysts, but the test is inconclusive. The doc said to get a nuclear scan. Had the nuclear scan. It says there are cysts, but the test is inconclusive and to get an ultrasound. The doc said to have a needle biopsy. Had a needle biopsy, and the results are "inconclusive, but benign." The doctor expects me to come in for an office visit so he can talk to me about it.

I don't think so.

End of February Report

The biggest challenge for February (besides the economy that tanked) has been getting our dairy does bred. Charlie the miniature buckling is so short and young that the does were less than cooperative. We are currently borrowing a HUGE Saanen buck. He's gentle as a lamb, thank goodness.

Dan worked a few days in Freer. We're waiting to see what the lower oil and gas prices will do to his consulting business. Drilling has come to a halt.

I had blood work done to check thyroid, parathyroid, and a few other things. A thyroid ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, March 2.

Quilting and cheesemaking are pleasurable activities. I'm working on learning to free motion quilt.

Need to update....

I haven't checked in here recently, and it's obvious that I should update this site more often!

At the moment, I'm in Eads, Tennessee, for our holiday visit with Nathan, Wendy, and Cole. Given that the guys are heavily into football on television, I have the time to work on the computer.

I've made the semi-annual move from Missouri back to Texas. The goats, dogs, and Lonnie and I drove south in early November. The Texas Animal Health Commission had their check station up at the border, something we've never seen before. We learned that the health papers we obtained were expired, so we had to get all the goats inspected and certified healthy after arriving in Jackson County. Other than that, the trip went smoothly.

After arriving, we've been in project mode. Things that we've accomplished include:
- installing a septic system at The Office of Multiplicity
- building a buck pen
- paneling the milk house to keep the cold North Wind out
- getting the spa repaired
- getting a new pasture renter who replaced fence before moving in cattle
- getting the hurricane boards down
- cleaning out the old smoke house
- sorting clutter and disposing of junk
- sewing twelve sets of flip-flop pot holders for Sandra to give to her Bunco ladies

What a wonderful life!

What a day this has been!

Today was supposed to be a day of office work - balancing checkbooks, paying bills, etc. I did get some of that done, but the backhoe and crew from Kotlar plumbing showed up about 10:00 AM, and that was the end of paperwork.

While I was in Missouri, a major leak had developed in my natural gas supply line between the meter and the house. This required Center Point Energy to pull the meter, so when I got home to Ganado, there was no hot water, no gas for the range, and no gas for the dryer. Today was the day the line would be replaced.

The first thirty minutes or so, the crew and I scoped out where the digging would take place, discussed whether there were other water, electrical, phone, or drain lines in the area, and whether we were very lucky to have missed the full force of Hurricane Ike. After agreement was reached on all points, the digging began.


Digging took a couple of hours, as the gentleman from Kotlar took great care not to tear up excessive amounts of the yard, and he had to work between pecan trees, a power line, and a quite narrow spot where the meter would be.

After lunch, the new high tech gas line was set in place. The grey parts are the risers that are on each end, and the small spool of wire is a metal line that is taped to the poly gas line so that it can be located with a metal detector later, if necessary.


After the line was in place and tested, the crew repaired the pecan tree irrigation line that had to be cut in one spot. About that time, a representative from the phone company showed up frothing at the mouth about whether we had cut "his" line. I went in the house, got a dial tone on the hand set and brought it to him. He left.

The backhoe operator then began replacing the dirt. I was incredibly impressed with his skill. He filled and packed and replaced the sod that he'd skimmed off and set aside. He had even set aside the driveway gravel and replaced it carefully. You can see from the next set of pictures that there's not a hump of loose dirt, very little damage to the lawn outside of the ditch, and that he did a wonderful job.








About the time the plumbing crew left, one of my former students, Buck Schoneberg, showed up to look at the fence job we need done. He's going to prepare a bid on replacing the perimeter fence that Dan's father built about fifty years ago. The fence is so bad that the rancher who has had the pasture leased for two years won't put cattle on it for fear that they will get out on the highway. It's definitely time to do something, as he wasn't going to renew the lease. I should hear the amount of the bid in a few days.

As Buck drove away, Dustin came to help for a couple of hours after school. We again picked up sticks for the burn pile, and then, we started cleaning the garage. Unfortunately, Dustin got stung by yellow jackets under the tool rack. We scouted for more wasps, and we found three more nests, which we sprayed before suspending the garage project for today.

Today was a good day, full of varied work and many accomplishments. The only thing that I was hoping to get done that wasn't successful was scheduling the reinstallation of the gas meter. Due to the hurricane recovery, Center Point Energy is being swamped with re-hook up requests that require documentation of the line pressure test. Although Kotlar plumbing faxed the info in at 2:30 this afternoon, the information had not made it into their computer system today by 6:00 PM. I'll call again in the morning to see if we can schedule it.

I'll be looking forward to cooking, showering in hot water in my own home, and being able to fling a load of wet clothes in the dryer.

More to do!

Looks like I will be here in Texas the rest of the
month. The gas line installation is slower than I
expected. They called Monday to say I was on the
list. The owner of the company came by yesterday
morning to look at the project and step off the
length of the pipe. Two workers came by yesterday
about noon to pressure test the house and tell me
they couldn't get to it yet. The gas company has to
have documentation that the job is done and
re-pressure tested before they will even schedule
re-setting my meter.

My new crowns that they did the preliminary tooth
work for won't be back from the lab until Sept 24th.
I'm on the 'will call' list for an appointment
opening ASAP after they come in.

I have to get a new goat pen built, too. One of my
renter's brothers-in-law had to move, and their goats
are in our goat pen here till they find another place.

Luckily, the new girl working at the feed store was a
senior at Louise High School when I went to work
there mumble years ago, and she knew someone in
Louise (also a former student of mine) who now builds
fence. He's coming today to give me a bid.

So, the work continues! Wednesday is an office day
for me. Paperwork, paying bills, and filing. I
always feel good when it's DONE!

Wonderful Work Day

Some interesting developments up here in southern Missouri. One of our neighbor's friends is a high school senior named Cody Gann. As Gann is my maiden name, and I've never met anyone outside the immediate family with that name, I was excited. I spent some time talking to his mom, Anette Gann. Her great great grandfather was n Irish immigrant trapper in this area. We'll be doing some work on seeing where our family trees merge.

Today, Lonnie, Cody, Patrick (a friend of Cody's) and I worked all day at The Outback. The list of accomplishments is long:

1. Lonnie and the boys replaced the broken window
2. Cody and Patrick got ALL the baseboards installed. This was a big job. Two living areas, three bedrooms, and LOTS of closets. They then started caulking the top edge next to the wall and filling nail holes.
3. Lonnie and I installed the lights under the utility room wall cabinet.
4. Lonnie and I re-hung the shelves in the office closets.
5. Lonnie varnished the other side of the office closet doors, then we hung them back in place.
6. I installed automatic toilet cleaners.
7. I painted the baseboards in the kitchen.
8. Cody and Patrick repaired a hole in the office wall.
9. I replaced a door knob on an outside door.
10. I checked the well house to make sure that a larger pressure tank would fit.
11. Lonnie and I re-hung the utility room cabinet doors and installed shelf paper in the cabinets.

Tomorrow's list is almost as long as today's was! Patrick may not be able to work on Sunday, so it will be three of us working. I hope things go as well!

New renters in The Outback

Like I said in the last post, things work out. I put an ad up for The Outback last Friday at the grocery store. No calls over the weekend. Then, Monday when we got back from running our errands in West Plains, there was a message from a lady named Angela.

I left her a message; she called back; we made an appointment for 8:00 A.M. Tuesday.

Angela and Izzy arrived right on time, and I liked them from the moment they drove up. We have a great deal in common, including a love of crows!

They have been looking for a peaceful secluded place to live. The Outback is most certainly that. While Lonnie and Izzy worked on getting the broken window out of the frame, Angela and I sat on the back porch watching the wind blow the grass like waves on the ocean.

Our new renters and their three girls are moving in at the end of the month.

One phone call. The right folks. We are all blessed.

Trust News

The Leigh Family Trust purchased the Hulvey homestead and 62 acres in the spring of 2006. The Hulvey's had reduced their selling price by substantially in exchange for staying in the home while they built their new one. It was a good deal for everyone. Except for some minor insurance issues, I've left them alone to get their home built. I am definitely a low interference landlady!

The spring trek to Missouri brought me here on April 28th. The next morning, I get a call from the Hulvey's. They have finished their home and will be moved into it on Wednesday. What fantastic timing!

With two phone calls, I have the electricity scheduled to go into our name. We'll be meeting with the Hulvey's today to get the keys and inspect the house.

As it's the end of the school year here, there will be new teacher and coaches arriving over the summer, so I hope to have it rented soon. I actually already have a lead on one potential renter.

Things work out.

April 29, 2008

We made the drive from south Texas to south central Missouri on the 28th. It was a good drive, starting at 5:50 AM, ending at about 9:00 PM. We stopped frequently, letting the dogs out of the truck on leashes to stretch their legs and take a comfort break. I offered water to the goats every time we stopped, but they didn't drink anything until 6:00 PM!

The weather was beautiful all the way - sunny and not too windy, thank goodness. A 700 mile trip pulling a trailer requires good weather.

Today was spent unloading the truck and trailer, putting things away, and getting re-oriented to southern Missouri.

After living in south Texas for the early spring, we had become used to 80 degree weather almost every day.

This morning, in Oregon County, Missouri, the low temperature was 31 degrees! It was stunning. The goats were shivering, the bunny built a nest down in the hay in his travel box, and the dogs thought they belonged on the couch rather than outside.

We made a quick run down to Thayer to get plants for the garden. We brought up tomato, parsley, and basil from Texas, but we needed the rest of the plants and seeds for a complete garden. We'll be planting beans, squash, radish, carrots, chard, more herbs, and sunflowers. For right now, the plants are in Lonnie's greenhouse. When we are sure the weather has warmed a bit, they will go in the ground. But... first we have to till all the raised beds.

There's a lot to do!

Arielle Elizabeth Kaspar

Arielle Elizabeth Kaspar








Born Friday 15th at 4:59 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs 7.8 ounces and a length of 19.5 inches. Hair brown, eyes brown or blue depending on if you ask mom or dad. Dad may need his vision checked.