Well, I am ashamed to say I took the easy way out with my spaghetti....no homemade noodles! However, I made up for it Saturday! We had homemade Chicken N Noodles....our chickens and homemade wheat noodles! It was YUMMY!!!
Josh & Sarah were there when I got home from work and they were a tremendous help to us again! While I was bummed to not see my niece and nephew, I did get to meet Gracie for the second time ever....kinda sad, she didn’t even know I was her Aunt. She is the cutest, sweetest little 4 year old I have ever seen! She has one heck of a personality and I mean that in a good way!! Brianna & Gracie were like two peas in a pod Friday and Saturday! Gracie wasn’t too sure about all my animals but after a few hours and watching my kids interact with them she wanted to play in the goat pen too!
We ended up working outside all weekend again....I’m sure it won’t be the last weekend we do this....probably more often than not till winter hits as we have a lot of irons in the fire. We got most of the "summer kitchen" cleaned out and the front portion is a hay & grain storage area and the back portion is going to be the goat care area for things such as hoof trimming, milking, storage for wormers and vaccines ect. We have a mini fridge we are gonna put in there and there is a wood burning stove to heat it on those cold days while milking. I think it will work great when we're all done with it!!
The goat/chicken run is mostly done. We need to get some sort of aviary netting or something of that nature to keep the chickens, ducks and turkeys in so we don’t have any more runaways! We also need to figure out something for the bottom of the fence so predators can’t get in because right now there is a spot or two my 75 pound boxer can get under. Not necessarily a good thing!
Of course it wasn’t all work and no play we had a nice bonfire on Friday night and the kids roasted marshmallows and had a blast!
I’m not quite ready to start the work week but its here! So, off to work I go!! Have a great week everyone! Talk to you soon!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Laundry Soap & Goats
How many times do you go to the store to buy laundry soap and say to yourself….my goodness this stuff is outrageous!!! I do it all the time. I have stumbled upon the sufficientself.com and they are all talking about how they make their own laundry soap. So, I have decided to try it….it seems pretty easy and from what I have read you can make 10 GALLONS, yes I said gallons for around $6!!!! That is amazing!!!! So, next weekend I will give it a go and let you know how it turns out! Here's the recipe:
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine
4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.3-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
Today, were hopefully going to finish the chicken/goat run so everyone can be out at the same time not this group then that group. It’s going to make things a lot easier!!! Thankfully we have help!! Josh, Sara and possibly the kids are coming over to help us out! We couldn’t be more grateful!! While they are out working their butts off I will be inside making homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade spaghetti noodles!!! I’m really excited to make the noodles because I haven’t tried homemade spaghetti noodles…others yes but not spaghetti!!!
I tell you what, when you’re new to any animal it’s DEFINITELY a learning process. I think Bob the pygmy goat was not technically a legal sale…not on my part but on the previous owners….I have learned that there is a disease called scrapies and you have to put a tag in the ear or tattoo your goats so if for some reason they end up with scrapies they can track it back to the original farm to check those animals. He is such a pain in the rear that I haven’t been able to tell if he is tattooed but I know he doesn’t have a tag and in the state of Indiana you’re not allowed to see goats or sheep without a scrapies number. Its doesn’t really appear in goats like it does sheep but they do have the occasional case. WHO KNEW?? You would think after all the extensive reading I have done on goats I would have came across this…NOT. OH well! I called the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and I have a flock number, a premises number and theyre sending my scrapies tags!! They will be here in two weeks!
I asked about Bob, the pygmy goat and they said to write down the address where we purchased him from and put one of our tags on him. That way if they ever needed to contact the owner they could trace him back to us and we can give them the address where we purchased him at. They said it’s not the technical way to do it but it will work since he doesn’t currently have a tag! So, in two weeks all my goats will have tagged ears but Olive….she has a tattooed tail since she doesn’t really have ears.
Well thats all for now.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine
4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.3-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
Today, were hopefully going to finish the chicken/goat run so everyone can be out at the same time not this group then that group. It’s going to make things a lot easier!!! Thankfully we have help!! Josh, Sara and possibly the kids are coming over to help us out! We couldn’t be more grateful!! While they are out working their butts off I will be inside making homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade spaghetti noodles!!! I’m really excited to make the noodles because I haven’t tried homemade spaghetti noodles…others yes but not spaghetti!!!
I tell you what, when you’re new to any animal it’s DEFINITELY a learning process. I think Bob the pygmy goat was not technically a legal sale…not on my part but on the previous owners….I have learned that there is a disease called scrapies and you have to put a tag in the ear or tattoo your goats so if for some reason they end up with scrapies they can track it back to the original farm to check those animals. He is such a pain in the rear that I haven’t been able to tell if he is tattooed but I know he doesn’t have a tag and in the state of Indiana you’re not allowed to see goats or sheep without a scrapies number. Its doesn’t really appear in goats like it does sheep but they do have the occasional case. WHO KNEW?? You would think after all the extensive reading I have done on goats I would have came across this…NOT. OH well! I called the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and I have a flock number, a premises number and theyre sending my scrapies tags!! They will be here in two weeks!
I asked about Bob, the pygmy goat and they said to write down the address where we purchased him from and put one of our tags on him. That way if they ever needed to contact the owner they could trace him back to us and we can give them the address where we purchased him at. They said it’s not the technical way to do it but it will work since he doesn’t currently have a tag! So, in two weeks all my goats will have tagged ears but Olive….she has a tattooed tail since she doesn’t really have ears.
Well thats all for now.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
New to blogging
So, I’ve never been much of a blogger but I thought why not give it a shot! It could be fun! So, where to start....The kids just started going back to school...Austin is in 2nd grade and Kayden is in first. They are loving it! It is so funny to see the excitement on their faces as they wait for the bus. They both LOVE their teachers and so far it’s going well. Brianna is going to start a three year old class in September and she wants to start now!!! I just hope she stays that excited about it!!!
So the other day I was sitting on the couch relaxing watching Army Wives when the neighbor kid knocks on the door to tell me there is kittens under the ramp to get into my house.....fun fun!........NOT I now have 8 yes you read that right 8 kittens at my house. We had 10 but have gotten rid of 2...thank goodness!!!! Now 8 more to go...... you want a cat? lol
The goats are doing well, one if not both of the girls may or may not be pregnant as bob the pygmy goat somehow got out and was with the girls for who knows how long.....not planned at all!!!! I was planning on waiting until late October to November to breed that way we would have spring babies but, that may not be the case....only time will tell...I may be milking at Christmas time!
Our meat birds are about ready to go. We have a few that aren’t quite ready but 50 birds two people….we will do more than one day of processing to save our backs! It’s quite an interesting experience! I don’t require the kids to help they just want to. It’s kind of interesting to them to learn about the gizzard what the liver, heart and lungs looks like. They pluck, and gut just depends on how long each task holds their attention as to how much they do. :-)
Alright that’s it for my first entry my first 10 minutes of my lunch are now gone…..need to go find some food before I have to get back to work!
So the other day I was sitting on the couch relaxing watching Army Wives when the neighbor kid knocks on the door to tell me there is kittens under the ramp to get into my house.....fun fun!........NOT I now have 8 yes you read that right 8 kittens at my house. We had 10 but have gotten rid of 2...thank goodness!!!! Now 8 more to go...... you want a cat? lol
The goats are doing well, one if not both of the girls may or may not be pregnant as bob the pygmy goat somehow got out and was with the girls for who knows how long.....not planned at all!!!! I was planning on waiting until late October to November to breed that way we would have spring babies but, that may not be the case....only time will tell...I may be milking at Christmas time!
Our meat birds are about ready to go. We have a few that aren’t quite ready but 50 birds two people….we will do more than one day of processing to save our backs! It’s quite an interesting experience! I don’t require the kids to help they just want to. It’s kind of interesting to them to learn about the gizzard what the liver, heart and lungs looks like. They pluck, and gut just depends on how long each task holds their attention as to how much they do. :-)
Alright that’s it for my first entry my first 10 minutes of my lunch are now gone…..need to go find some food before I have to get back to work!
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