Always Busy

More busy around FHH.

Yesterday I cut all the grass AGAIN... including a swath along the top of the hill at the front side of our property. (If you're looking at our place from the road, its the right hand side, over near where we've been grazing the goats.) I got a "brilliant" idea yesterday while sitting on the lawn mower that I could dig out some of the new growth from the base of the lilac bush and transplant it over on that hill edge. The idea is to mix in some real trees both evergreens and maybe some maples and provide some cover from the road there.

I didn't dig up any of the lilac new growth yet, so I don't know if this brilliant plan will work yet or not, but we'll see how it goes. It may turn out to be one of those plans that sounds good in theory, but makes you wish you were dead when you actually try to DO it :)

After we picked Shawn up from work last night, we went a little farther into Kanata and picked up some sod that someone had dug out of their lawn to make a garden (thanks kijiji!). We brought home 4 muck buckets, a rubbermaid garbage can, 3 garden tubs, a blue water bucket and 5 plastic containers you get from buying trees at the nursery full of sod!

We are using it to help fill in the ruts that run across our property. At some point, years ago, someone drove a truck across the property a few times when it was very muddy and left these ruts. They generally aren't a big deal, except that we do have to cross them to get to where the goats have been grazing lately. They are deep enough that my lawn tractor can not go through them.

We filled some with manure early in the season and now this sod we're just laying on top of that. Makes a decent job... doubt the grass will grow, but eventually it will and that's ok with us. So mostly its free fill :)

I think after work tonight we'll make another trip and hopefully get the rest of it. Its a good deal for the person we're getting it from also, as they live in suburbia and have no way of disposing of all the sod. Everyone is happy :)

After we put all the sod down in the ruts, then we also moved the goat pen. They had pretty much used up the whole front section, so we moved it back away from the road now, closer to the old barn site. We have tons of grass to be eaten, that's for sure!!

We were definitely tired last night... again!!
That's it for now.
-- L

Obviously May is "Missing In Action" Month!

It's been a long time since I made it here to make updates. We've been so busy and by the time I actually have TIME to post, I'm out of energy!!

Spring is definitely here and we've been working on all the projects we sat around thinking up all winter! Our lilac bush bloomed this year (we missed it last year) and is almost done now. Soon I will try to think it out a bit and prune it back and try to make it look a little less unruly!

This past weekend my parents came to visit... was so nice to see them again and catch up. Their visits are never really long enough for my liking... I'd love if they could stay longer... but I also know they have other things they have to do... I'm glad for any time they have to spare to come for a visit.

While Mom and Dad were here, we got 2 trees planted in the side yard. One is a honey locust and the other is a hackberry. They don't look like much yet, but even once they leaf out this year they'll be better. Thanks Dad for all your hard work digging holes for the new tress in our crappy clay soil!

We've also been working on putting up some 5 strand electric fence for the goat babies. The posts were put in last fall... the insulators are up.... the ground rod for the fencer unit has been pounded in (Thanks Dad!!).... now we just need a bit of time to hook up the fencer and actually run the wire. We're doing 3 strands of regular wire and 2 strands of electric rope for visibility. We're hoping this will work out ok and hold in our goats.

We've had the goats out on grass for weeks now... every two days we move their enclosures to a new grazing area for fresh grass, they seem to like that well enough! They are good eaters and it only takes about 2 days for them to clear their pen (approx 30 feet diameter) of decent grass. We could maybe get 3 days out of it, but I don't want them eating it too low. We have lots of grass, there's no need to worry about running out just yet. The spots they ate first, are already just about filled in and could likely be grazed again. We'll wait a while to do that though, make sure all the manure has gone away and the grass solidly reestablished.

A couple weeks ago, we got a great deal of some 5 foot chain link fencing on kijiji... we haven't decided where that will go up yet... but we'll use it somewhere for sure! I just can't pass up a good deal on used fencing in good condition.

I've been doing physio on my knee, its an old injury that now apparently has some arthritic changes in it. I'm not sure if the physio is helping yet or not, its more sore than it was when I started, but mostly because I've learned to compensate for it for a very long time. This morning I actually got fitted for a hinged brace for it.

The ligaments (MCL and LCL) are shot in it, which allows my lower leg to move left and right against my thigh. Obviously this is not good, so this new and extremely expensive brace should help stabilize it and act like external ligaments and maybe let the inflammation settle down and slow down the progression of arthritis in it. I should have the brace in about 2 weeks or so... takes a while since its custom made. It'll look similar to this but should be metallic blue. Hopefully it will provide some relief and stability.

We installed a garden next to the house... on the driveway side, next to the mudroom. I haven't planted anything there yet, I added some manure and grass clippings to the soil and I'm waiting for them to break down a bit more before I plant. Likely in the next week or so I'll put something in there. It'll be a good place to plant bulbs in the fall... its on the south side of the house and right against the house, so they should come early next spring. Spring flowers, what a novel concept around here!

Yesterday Jess and I dug out the sod around some existing trees in the side yard. They keep getting hit by the lawn mower (they were hit with lawn mowers long before *I* moved in!) and I wanted to make it so I wouldn't have to mow so close to them. After we removed the sod, we added a couple bags of the soil I have around that I bought at TSC a while back on sale. Cleans it up around them and looks nice. Perhaps will add some nutrients to the soil and maybe those trees will grow a bit more... I'll put some manure around them in a couple weeks also.

For Mother's Day, I got some lovely flowers from Jess, Martha Washington geraniums. They are gorgeous, though one of them seems to not be doing really well... I'm not sure WHY, as its in the same type of container, same soil and right beside the one that's doing well. Seems strange to me. Shawn gave me a book "All Flesh Is Grass, The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming" by Gene Logsdon. I've only read a bit so far, since we've been busy, but it seems like a neat book. I've read some of his other books and I find them really interesting. I look forward to making some time to read it all! :)

We took the dogs to the vet last night for their heart worm tests and meds. They did just fine, the tests were all negative, as expected. We really like this vet clinic... you're in, they do their thing and you're out. Not near so much lecturing and time wasting as our old vet. Not near so stressful on the dogs OR us.

Though we did just receive an ad in the mail for a mobile vet practice that interests me. His whole practice is based on coming to your house and he's affiliated with an animal hospital for emergencies and referrals. I don't know anything about the vet himself, but the concept really appeals to me. He also provides at home euthanasia, which is something I will likely have to think about in the next while.

Speaking of which, Buddy (my shep x) is doing ok right now... about a month or so ago he wasn't doing great. Him and Pixie were wrestling in the yard, when he suddenly yelped and wouldn't bear weight on his hind end. He was unable to do stairs for a few days and we carried him upstairs at night for bed. He's been slowly improving though, but we're trying to be very vigilant about them not messing about and re injuring it. Its remarkably hard to stop them though, his brain still thinks he's young and puppy like, his body.... not so much. Anyhow, no decisions need to be made NOW, but its something I just KNOW is looming ahead of me at some point. I guess that's always true when you have animals.

I know there are tons of things we've been working on that I haven't mentioned... I just can't recall them all right now, of course! Anyhow, since there's always so much to do, I should get going and do some of them!

I'm planning to post a few pics also, so check out the FHH album!
--L

Not All Redneck... A Bit of High Tech Too!

As I posted, Jess is now home for the summer... not having cable tv has not been an issue until now... she likes to watch Lost. Last week, we decided to see if we got any channels without cable. (Not something we had thought of checking before she came home!) It turns out we can sort of get the channel that has Lost and Greys Anatomy on it. It's fuzzy and unclear, but the audio was ok.

Last night, we went to Best Buy and bought "rabbit ears" for the tv....they are nicer looking than the old fashioned rabbit ear antennas, but not that different either. Shawn hooked it up and voila! That same channel now comes in clearer than cable! There are also a couple other channels we can get. A french one that's very clear. The channel we THINK House is on, but its really fuzzy and unclear, but we also didn't spend any time trying to adjust the rabbits ears and see if it would help.

So... we're like all high tech now here in redneckville ;)
-- L

Overdue Update!

As usual, I've been busy lately and not posted. Just not quite enough time or energy in the day!

Jess is home from university and has started her hunt for a summer job so that she can afford to go back to university in the fall. It's so nice to have her home again!!

My mom made the big trip out here again and visited with us for a week. We had a good time, but took it easy. The weather was lovely while she was here... sunny and warm... we all soaked that up after a long long winter!! My dad picked her up on the weekend, he was only here for one night, but we enjoyed our visit with him as well, even if it was too short! :)

Things are really starting to look like spring around here... green grass... the trees are starting to green up... OTHER people have flowers... daffodils, tulips, etc... I have dandelions! Oh well, at least they add some colour.

We've been putting our goats out on grass, as the weather permits... we have two enclosures now. One is set up with the black rubber mats and the goat ghetto shelter, the other just has half of their winter shelter in it to provide shade and we move it around the property to give them new grass.

We just set up the grazing paddock at the end of last week and they spent a couple days in it... then yesterday I noticed there wasn't much grass left and they were starting to churn up the dirt by the gate. So last night we move the grazing paddock over a bit in the field to provide new grass. I'll put them out there later today and let them work away at the grass there.

The goats are loving the weather and the grass it brings! They go crazy when we take them out on leashes to move from paddock to paddock and eat the whole way! They really like it if we go past the trees and they can reach some of the lower new growth... they clip it off quickly with their sharp back teeth and gobble it up!

The dogs are enjoying the weather also, though they still spend most of their time inside.... they are not really outside dogs. Perhaps if there were comfy couches outside that would help :)

We did have quite a scare with my Buddy dog (shep x) about 2 weeks ago. He and Pixie were outside and started ramming about and wrestling... they had just started and weren't even really wound up yet when we heard Buddy yelp. Shawn and I were both standing right there, but neither of us saw what happened, except that he was no longer weight bearing on his right hind.

I stood with him for a few minutes and then checked his paw and his joints. Nothing obvious. No heat, no swelling. He was unable to climb back up the steps to get inside, so I had to carry him in. He laid down for a while and rested. It took him about 4 or 5 days to really start to recover from the incident.

The first night, I carried him up the stairs to go to bed... what a workout THAT is!! Of course, this happened the night before I was heading back to Southern Ontario, so the next couple nights Shawn had to carry him up to bed. I was pretty sure when I left that I would be coming home to put him down.

But he's mostly recovered... he's still slow to get up and occasionally a bit "off" behind, but he's still doing all his normal doggie stuff and he's now able to get up the stairs on his own, which is good. His big problem is his body is aging WAY faster than his mind... he still thinks he's 2, when in fact, he's almost 11.

I imagine this won't be the last incident we have with him, but I do feel lucky that this wasn't IT. I'm sure this dog will cause much more heart ache before the ends comes, damn him!! :)

I still haven't got my manure piles moved... maybe I'll get some time today to work on that, we'll see what today brings. I imagine they will still be there next week, for instance ... and if not, well then won't I be glad I waited? :)

Anyhow, I should go get some things done!
-- L

Some springtime exploring

Free with Four Horse Haven

So springtime is fun around here.

We've got 6 acres, and we don't use hardly any of it. In fact, for most of the year we've been here, most of the property is covered in waist deep weeds and vegetation. This year, we hope to graze some of it.

In spring, however, all the vegetation is pushed down by the snow. Once the mud clears up (like now), you can wander pretty much anywhere on the property, and get some good looks at things.

In the corner of our property, by the standing water, we thought we saw a dock of sorts. Wood, with T-bars around it, jutting out into the water.

Well, turns out that's not a dock.

I went down to it today. What it seems to be is a rectangular hole, maybe 6 by 10, by 5 feet deep (I'm bad at estimating like that, but around there). The hole has cast cement sides (I'm not sure if the bottom is cement as well -- it's got mud at the bottom).

Around the outside of the cement are T bars and other types of metal posts -- I don't know if it's to keep it from falling apart or what.

Over top is some sort of cage made of pipes. On top of the cage is sheet metal: really thick (like a quarter inch). There's also an old old dead shovel on top of it. It looks strong enough to stand on, although I didn't try.

Pictures in the four horse haven album.

What on earth is this thing? I have no idea. But whatever it is, we own it. :-)

Also while I was out, I saw a big turtle and a muskrat down in that pond (the turtle startled me, it was hiding, then pushed itself out into the water suddenly).

Lots more old dead wood and skids, as well. The previous owners liked to leave stuff everywhere. :-) But neat stuff!

Update: I've heard two theories about what this thing could be so far:

• a foundation for some old building - this one would be odd: this thing is underwater a lot of the time. Also, the metal framework over it seems to be profoundly part of it, rather than an add on after the fact.
• an old septic system for the original house - this is based on the fact that this "thing" is roughly in line with where we suspect the original house is. Hope this isn't the case: having a septic tank that's underwater much of the year seems really gross. :-) But it could be.
  

Another Couple Days And It'll Be ALL GONE!

The snow is just about gone here... another day or two of this warm weather should do it. I expect by the end of the week it'll be all gone, as its supposed to be quite warm this week.

I put up a couple pics in the FHH album showing the tiny bits of snow we have left, as well as a few I took a couple days ago.

There's still quite a bit of standing water around, but we are noticing even that is starting to go away a bit. Quite exciting.

Not too much to report around here... I've been busy, but not doing anything interesting. I did manage to flip the old goat shelter yesterday... both halves... the back half was easy, the front half was still pretty frozen into the ground and required a big shove. Lots of the bedding was still frozen solid inside, but after a little while in the sun I was able to clean almost all of it up and pile it in my temporary manure pile. I have a bit more cleaning to do there, but nothing major... I need to pull up the stall mat that was under all that bedding, it should be unfrozen and easier to move today... I couldn't quite get it yesterday.

The goats are enjoying the warmth and sunshine and like to lay flat out and sunbathe for hours on end. They are feeling good these days and are wild men when we go into feed and visit... lots of jumping and carrying on! Silly goats.

There's several pairs of Canadian geese hanging around in the field next to the yard... sometimes they come into our yard and if I'm not paying attention when I let the dogs out, the dogs chase them and have great fun. I try not to let this happen though, because I'm a little worried that the geese will hurt my dogs, but so far, so good.

For the first time in months, we smelled a skunk last night. It was very strong when we went out around 11pm and I suddenly worried that perhaps my goats had tangled with it somehow. But after shining the big flashlight around and making lots of noise, I went to feed and check them and they were not any stinkier than normal :) Thank goodness!!!!

Yummy Dinner... No Incidents! Yay :)

Tonight we managed to successfully go out and have our fancy dinner WITHOUT incident. No flat tires or anything :)

Of course, the night isn't over and I really should be careful not to jinx ourselves!

It was very tasty and we enjoyed it.... we started out with Young Organic Salad Greens... tender baby lettuces with house vinaigrette, red pear, goat cheese and crispy shallots. They also brought us a complimentary thing from the kitchen... tuna tar tar with avocado on a cracker, or something like that. It was tasty... I ate it even though I don't eat seafood anymore and I've survived to tell the tale ;)

We then had the Beef tenderloin, served with Oxtail Potato Gallette, Broccoli Rabe, Roasted Onion Purée and Bordelaise Sauce. The steak was delicious, they apparently age it themselves for 35 days. The oxtail potato thingy was ok, a little weird... I asked the server about it after we ate it and he said its not really ox, but just beef... not really sure how those are different anyhow... but it was kinda stringy, like the meat you get on a pig tail or turkey neck. But we ate it and enjoyed it well enough.

For dessert we had Crème Fraîche Brulée, Fig Compote, Micha Goat Cheese Crostini, Bruléed Fig. The whole fig addition almost made me not want to order it, but I love creme brulee generally, so I ordered it anyhow. It wasn't dried figs, but fresh figs, so it was a big relief... dried figs just look nasty! Anyhow that was delicious and we enjoyed it. Needless to say, Shawn ordered the exact same as I did, which makes posting about it faster :)

At the end of the meal, they brought us another tasty tiny num num from the kitchen for dessert, a vanilla brownie and the tiniest chocolate cookie I ever saw! It was about the size of a dime. The vanilla brownie was excellent, chewy and delicious, slightly larger than a postage stamp.

It was one of "those places" where you get frou frou food in teeny portions... but we enjoyed it and had fun. Not really the sort of place to take my parents or Jessica, but the sort of place if you had frou frou friends you could go out and celebrate birthdays or something... whatever people do when they have friends, frou frou or otherwise :)

I ended up wearing my "bad luck" clothes tonight... the nice very dark wash jeans I had bought to go to a coworkers dinner party when Shawn decided to shove a rusty nail into his skull... and I wore the black velvet top I bought to go to the formal soiree with Shawn's work that we missed due to a family emergency. Apparently if you pair two pieces of bad luck clothing together, they bring good luck... who knew? :)

I did enjoy wearing my black velvet top though... it fits nice and is comfortable and looks ok. I didn't feel the need to pick at it the whole time I was wearing it like I often do when I wear clothes other than jeans, tshirt, sweatshirt, so that was a bonus.

Anyhow, I think that's it for now.
--L