Rural Gardening: 2013 the start - January, 1 by CajuninKy

CajuninKy wrote:
We have a yellow wheelbarrow just like that and it makes work so much easier. But right now it has a flat. bummer.

My goats waste hay so I pick it up off the floor of the goat house when I need some for the dog house. He stays warm and it is not completely wasted. I don't give them a lot of hay because they waste it and I have not been able to get a proper hay feeder made for them. They need one with a solid front and a keyhole shaped opening for their heads. Once it hits the ground they won't eat it. Goats are picky eaters in spite of their reputations. Little Billy came on Monday for a two week stay. He is in with my grown doe, Dusty. I have the younger doe up the hill in the old chicken house because she is too young yet to breed. But I am going to sell her. She refuses to stay in the fence and I am beyond tired of dealing with it. I had planned to use another friend's buck to breed her and then see what kind of milker she is after she kids but I am over trying to keep her in the fence. My fences are tight and hot but I have come to the conclusion that if they don't learn to respect the fence when they are kids then it is lost cause. I will just have to hope Dusty has another doe kid I can keep instead.

I had to take my BC back to the vet. He has an inner ear infection and his balance is very off. He is on antibiotics and seemed to be getting a bit better so I let him out at 2 am. I opened the door 15 minutes later expecting him to be sitting on the porch and he wasn't there. I got dressed and took the flashlight out to look for him. He had fallen down they bank into the creek. It's about a 20 foot drop nearly straight down where he fell. It has been raining and the water is high. He was sitting in the middle of the rushing water and was so cold he could not move. I crawled down the bank with a rope and tied it around him. I had to drag him step by step up the bank. I got spasms in my lower back when I got him close to the top and had to lay down next to him until they passed so I could move my legs. I finally got him into the house and dried him really well with the hair dryer to warm him up. I gave him a half of one of his pain pills left over from the surgery. Thank the Lord he is doing fine with no ill affects from his ordeal. But his balance is still off. So he goes out on a leash at night now. I could not take another episode like that.

That's great about he quilts. I think she will win a ribbon. I would like to see more pics of the others. Quilting is a dying art. Used to be folks got together to put the backs on. I remember being at Maw Maw Vercie's house with Momma and the other ladies when I was a little kid. Her rack hung from the ceiling. Those are such precious memories for me.

Darius, did you get any snow? Thank the Lord it missed us. Snowed all around us but we were spared at our house. It has rained a lot but we are not in danger of flooding at our house. There has been flooding all around us. Been raining a whole lot back home too. Is your garden spot flooded. I guess being flooded in is a worry for you there.

Sue, are your goats gentle enough that you can put collars on them and stake them out to eat? I can just open the gate and let mine out to eat right now because there is nothing much in the garden but I stake them out during gardening time. What kind of rabbits do you have and what will you be using them for?

Steve got to try on a leg on Wednesday. He did not get one of his own but we are hoping he will. I asked the man how much the stripped down model costed and he said between $7000 & $12,000 dollars. He said most of the cost is in the foot part. I was surprised at that.