I'm really enjoying the weather out here. I know it won't last but I'm going to suck up as much as I can. I've been cleaing up a few flower beds and trying to clean the yard (it's still strewn with sticks and branches). Sadly all our fish in the fish pond died. It was either too cold or we were supposed to plug in an aerater or something. There was a ton of fish in there. I pulled out about 30 fish and 4 frogs (really nice looking ones too). The fish were huge! Some were even bigger than my hand. I put them all in a pail and left it till the next day to chuck out. eewaauahhah what a smell!! The goat and chickens are LOVING this weather. I can hardly get the chickens to come in at night. They usually follow me back to the coop but there are so many yummy bugs on the ground that they keep getting distracted and ducking to peck at something. Mozzerella is getting used to being tethered up outside. She bawls for a bit at first but doesn't get tangle up or anything. I was hoping she would get rid of all the brambles and growth along the barn where she's tied up but so far she's just been going back inside. Spoiled little goat. It turns out that our goat isn't as fat as we all thought. Here's a quote from one of my favorite websites(http://www.fiascofarm.com):



"If you look at their belly, or width side to side, and this is really big or wide, that is not fat. That is good rumen development and a sign of a healthy goat. A goat's rumen is a big fermentation vat, and the bigger it is the better they process their food. A big rumen is a good thing.
Pygmies goats very often look "fat" when they are not because of their short and stout body structure."



See? So Mozz is just fine. Here. Let me see if I can find a pic.
It's an older picture and not a good shot of her rumen but here she is anyways. Ha ha ha... what a goat. She's supposed to be my teaching goat so that one day I can get other dairy goats. Hopefully by then I'll know about goat husbandry and temperments.

Dan has been playing fetch with Chloe a lot. He thinks that she's doing really badly at it and we need to do more training with her if she's going to be a hunting dog. I think we're getting a little late for that. She LOVES retrieving and will start running before we even throw the ball but the problem is, she doesn't see where it goes and then can't find it. She's got great stamina and will look for days (seriously, she's done it before) but if she would just stop and look where it goes she would find the ball a lot faster. It would also be helpful if she could follow our pointing. We tried this new game where we make the dog stay and then we roll the ball along the ground and hide it from her. Then we try to make her smell it out. She doesn't do too badly at that. We should find some good training books, websites or even a place that will show us what to do. Maybe it's too much fuss and work but I like my animals to be useful. Speaking of useful, the chickens are laying again. Not a lot but more than they were. mmm. It's good to have fresh eggs again. I already have a dozen to give away.
There's some girls at work who found out that I have a blog. I guess my lifestyle is really backwards to them (having animals etc.) and they just thought it was hilarious that I write posts about animals. I guess it is pretty cheesy but it's my hobby; the only sport I'm interested in. Besides, I think they are secretly interested. I think most people are secretly interested. We're all closet agrarians.
The latest music that I've really started to like is by Serena Ryder. She's a local girl with an awesome voice. The two songs that I like the best aren't on her website to listen to but if you can find them, listen to them. "Boo hoo" and "I'm on my knees for you".
Here's one last quote from Wendell Berry (I found him through "agrarianism"): "Every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing...Love someone who doesn't deserve it...Plant sequoias...Practice resurrection."
That's all for now!!!