Monday, April 23, 2012

bump... bump...hiccup...

You see that there picture up there ^^^ well I am kind of wishin' that we had one of those. (A team of horses and a plow. Not the guy... He kind of creeps me out.) See our tractor is broken, it has been for about 2 years now, it has flat tires and it won't start. It is an old tractor, 1947 I believe. With $500+ for tires, and both of them being flat. It doesn't look like it is going to have new tires in a long time, especially since my Honey was told he would not be going back to work this Summer at the same place. Minus the fact that there will be no money coming in I actually love it. When ever he doesn't work away from home we actually do homestead type things. I am looking forward to it. There just seems to be one problem, our rototiller is broken too. AGH!!! Last year we made 4 raised beds, well, I don't want to do that again. Hopefully we can borrow a friends pull behind tiller. Our original 1/4 acre garden has not been used for 2 years. It has full out sod on it again!!! THE HORROR! So there are two bumps that we have faced since finding out there will be no steady income. 

Next, a major hiccup. April, our Jersey milk cow, had her calf about a week and a half ago. We are getting ready to use her milk this coming thursday. Well, one problem. SHE GOT MASTITIS!!!! **sigh** She seems to favor her right leg and stands all the time with her right leg forward. Meaning she is not giving the calf enough room to drink from the back right teat. So we worked with her for a few days. Honey went out every couple of hours and massaged her udder, rubbing in a homemade salve with cayenne pepper, coconut oil, and tea tree, oregano, and peppermint essential oils into the bag. (Warning: do not touch your eyes after handling the salve.) Anywho, she is almost cleared up of that. Which is good. there was hardly anything in the strip cup. We are hoping to build a stanchion soon. (At least I am). 

So our little bull calf Hercules aka "FreezerBurn" is a little Twerp. Do you want to know why? .... 

I'll let you guess for a little bit here...
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He dove right through the flinging-flanging electric fence..... TWICE!!!!  

How am I supposed to keep him in when he dives through it like there isn't even a tickle. Even April looked shocked the first time he did it. 

I think she also may have told him to do it. Her pasture is getting a little over grazed and we need to get a second pasture for her. Hopefully we can accomplish this before the end of the week. I hope. All we need for that to happen is money. And money is scarce here. 


>>insert prayer for that random 50 dollar bill to show up in the couch or blowing around our yard here<<

Honey picked up some GSE (grapefruit seed extract) from our food co-op, this is going to be an awesome teat dip. I am actually excited to try it. :) 

It have actually lightened up a little around April. About 2 days after the calf was born she pushed me and it scared the crap out of me. So I kept my distance for the past week. :( I actually milked two squirts the other day until she decided to walk away. (We really need a stanchion.) 

She really is a lovely cow. And I love her. I hope we can keep her healthy and loved. And as for that little twerp I hope we can fatten him as quickly as you can being they are grass-only so he can go in the freezer. ... 

He's just so stinkin' cute!

So my goals for this week are:

  • Clear April of all mastitis.
  • Build stanchion
  • clear land for second pasture
  • build fence for second pasture
  • plow, till, or scrape at ground with spoon until I have a garden plot. (j/k on the latter)
  • plant cold hardy seeds like peas, carrots, brassicas, etc
  • get file issues worked out for illustration job

What do you have planned for the week

2 comments:

  1. I seriously doubt I could eat something I saw being born :( But on the other hand... I love the fact that you're raising so much of your own food! I'm a little envious!

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  2. Well, I didn't ACTUALLY see him being born. I woke up and he was there. :P

    Ah don't be envious. We still have yet to get the seeds into the ground this year. :(

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