Farm Day

A day when I can stay home and work on the farm is a true gift.  I did leave to get to the Post Office in the village of Brookfield.  The hours have been cut by the Feds and I can only see Sharon, the postmaster, married to a former teacher at my school (don't you love country living?) between 8 and 10:30 in the morning.  I picked up my mail and sent off two packages, which always gives me enormous satisfaction.  Casting my bread upon the waters, only it's soap.  Got back to the farm and straight away set about securing the Nubian Goat Area.  Matt was very helpful with tying up fence panels and covering windows so the winter wind doesn't chill them.  The goat pen was the pig pen, but there are no pigs here now.  It runs along the barn so the Nubian goats can see the other goats and sheep but can't mingle with them until Spikey has done his job.  We caught Janey, Fancy's daughter from two years ago, and Matilda, big FAT Nubian girl who has never been pregnant.  She is gigantic from gorging on forage and Matt says the runty Spikey will not be able to mount her and do the job.  I'm hoping Matilda comes into cycle and decides to cooperate by lowering her back side to accomodate Spikey.  One can only hope.  The angora goats earn their keep by producing mohair.  The Nubians are supposed to produce goat milk.  So far it's not working out as well as I hoped.  Fancy, who is still on the loose, was a BITCH to nurse and required Matt sitting on a chair with his arms around her neck, holding her still.  She did whatever she could to kick the bucket over every time I milked her.  Good thing she's so beautiful, and that Miss Tammy at the abbatoir behind the Chobani factory does not do goats.   I'm going to give it one more try.  After working on the goats I started scraping and sweeping the milk house where the cats will winter over.  They are being moved from the "work room," a utility room next to the apartment, so Matt can build my cabinets.  Yes, it's happening.   The wood and tools I purchased was delivered on Thursday and is piled in the room.   I don't want to talk too much about it as I  might jinx it.  The milk house room is where my dye stove and wool washing machine is.  It's not a bad place for kitties as they can go in and out via the bulk tank hose trap door.  I bleached and washed all the bucket and feed pans I have in the barn.  Can't remember when I did it last and it took some time.  Gentle snow was falling outside and the sun was showing a bit.  It feels weird to work in the barn while suited up in my fleece pants, rubber boots and a hat on my head, but it's that cold now.  Came on real fast this year, in the Great North Land.