Stan is the Man

John and Stan look at what has been cleared and discuss the next move. Asa likes what he sees.

Backhoe Bliss

This weekend we finally got one side of the pasture cleared out with a backhoe and a bushhog. Thanks to "Stan the Man". We feel like we have more land to work with and it it so much easier to get down to the creek. It feels really great to have that done, and Stan plans to clear our land on the other side of the creek soon.

John sends sparks flying while sharpening our tools 

Survey

We had a survey done of the property since we plan to put up fencing soon. We figured that it would be a good idea to know exactly where the property lines were. When we were looking at the land before we bought it, the seller said that he wasn't exactly sure where the lines were, but showed us the general perameters. Good thing that we had a survey done, because we would have put a fence on our neighbor's land! Sadly, we lost a lot of what was thought of as ours. So it's closer to two acres of land instead of three. I won't be able to do as much pasturing of the goats as I had thought. I am hoping that eventually we could rent some land from a neighbor next to us. I haven't met these people yet, but right behind us they have acres and acres that they do nothing with. They keep it mowed and the fences trimmed. It would be really convenient to use after putting up a temporary fence. The current fencing wouldn't keep in goats!

We are waiting for our backhoeing neighbor to come and clear half of the pasture. That is tentative for this Saturday. Then we will be ready to fence that in. Progress!!

Learning to Make Cheese

I made a small batch of lemon cheese for the first time in a very long time. Asa was my assistant. I followed the directions. I'm sure of it. But, for some reason, it didn't coagulate. And it had a coarse texture instead of a smooth and creamy one. Then I put too much salt on it. Asa insisted on sampling some on a cracker. He announced that it was delicious. I had a different opinion. We went and bought two more quarts of goat's milk, and I plan to make more lemon cheese today. I am going to make it until I perfect it, then I'm going to make it a few more times. I have about a year and a half to work on my cheesemaking skills. I would love to be able to go and "intern" at a farm that makes cheeses. Learn from folks that know what they're doing. That would be really wonderful.
Our family went to the York Fair in September. Asa and I went together on a weekday - and we met a man who was there with his family showing their Alpine goats. They were winning ribbons left and right. The man, who I later found out to be Rick Musselman of Rainbow Colors farm, was milking one of his goats. I've never actually seen a goat (or a cow, for that matter) being milked. I was fascinated by this - so Asa and I stopped to watch. This man's hands moved so quickly. He was able to empty that udder in about 2-3 minutes - and I couldn't believe how much foamy warm milk emptied into the pail! I had so many questions for Rick, and he was happy to answer all of them. He was very friendly, warm, and full of goat information. He let Asa bottle-feel one of the kids that was just two months old. This thrilled Asa - he'd always wanted to do this. It was really nice to meet someone who has been doing for years what I hope to be doing very soon.

Movement

We have made a decision regarding the "pasture". We have contacted a neighbor who has his own backhoe. Another neighbor recommended him - saying he did good work at a good price. This man will clear out the whole area on one side of the stream. So he will get rid of the huge brush and near-trees and use a brushhog in areas that are not so savage. Just having made this decision feels really great, like we are making progress.
No movement on the barn. There is lots to be done there. There is exposed fiberglass insulation on one wall that must be removed or enclosed, and just seeing the piles of lumber that need to be moved to another room makes me get the vapors. I don't mind the work; I just have a bum wrist (intersection syndrome) that can only handle brief periods of heavy lifting. I can see it taking weeks to complete. Now we just have to decide where to move the wood to.

Baby Steps

A lawn tractor was included in the sale of our house and mill. I was happy to learn this, since a riding mower was on our growing list of the expensive things we needed to buy for our new farm. The mower looks to be at least 15 years old - the previous owner said that it worked fine and only needed a tune-up. John gave it a homemade tune up; new battery, he used a wrench here, poured a bottle of something in some hole over there. He worked up a sweat, got a little dirty, and then - it was ready to see if it would start. It didn't. Our neighbor found us to be so pitiful, that he insisted that he run his new lawn tractor through our whole yard. It was embarrassing, but after he was done, about 8 minutes later, I was glad that he did it. Man, it was done fast! And it looked good. I usually mow it myself with the standard push mower. I do enjoy mowing the lawn myself the old-fashioned way. It makes me feel like I'm pulling my weight around the house. But, even still, I welcome trading in a couple hours of hard labor that leaves me soaking in sweat for the luxury having more time for other fun things like weeding, spraying weed killer on poison ivy or using my "chainsaw-on-a-stick".
John is going to see if the starter is the problem on the tractor. It looks rusty enough to be the problem.

Crawdaddy

Jake, Asa and John were at the stream. Playing on the water's edge. Jake realized that something was in his boot. A tiny 2.5 inch crayfish had gotten in his boot. He wasn't too thrilled about that. The boys decided to keep it in a tin tub. I hope the poor thing lives. Asa likes to poke at it with a stick and watch it hop out of reach.
The current thinking with clearing the pasture is to rent a bush hog - if that's even possible. Maybe we could call a "landscaping" company to see if they offer some service like that. I found out that I need to check with the local EPA to see if there are regulations about having goats have direct access to the stream water. And to see if I need to be concerned about the goats drinking water out of that stream (with possible field run-off).
I haven't done any more clearing out of the goat barn. It's been difficult doing much of anything around the mill with both boys home all summer. They are very different boys with different opinions and ideas on what they like doing - and how to go about doing it. Jake started school today - and now I kind of have to feel my way into how Asa and I will spend our days together, just me and him. He usually seems to enjoy gardening and weeding with me, and going out the the mill. He loves exploring the outdoors just being outside - and so maybe I can get some work done out there with him as my "helper."
Here are my boys trying to feed the gigantic carp that are swimming in our stream. The fish seem completely uninterested in sliced turkey. But the guys keep trying.