Hooray for guacamole!

Thanks to my co-worker Susan, I had some delicious freshly picked avocados.  I just had to make some guacamole.  The only thing I do not like about guacamole is its limited refrigerator life. I guess that just means you have to eat it all, no problem there.  

Macho salad

Thanks to one of the docs at work I have some fresh Manoa lettuce.  

So the goat has managed to escape the tiger proof fence.  My towel is officially thrown in, I am sitting in the house drinking wine, and the goat is under the house. Saturday we are going to look at some goats up the road, I really hope we can find a suitable friend for the goat and she will like her friend and stop escaping. The milk production is starting to go up however, I think it is because I have been feeding her alfalfa and increased her grain ration, there is such a science to feeding a dairy goat, I had no idea. The upside of today was getting the fresh produce from my co-worker and doc.  I also made another strawberry rhubarb crisp to bring to work and share because I had some extra rhubarb and did not want it to go to waste, that is one of my new goals, not to waste food anymore.  If the average household wastes for instance $100 dollars of food a month, I probably waste $200, I am really that bad, I need to stop.  I gave Marzipan all of the scraps from me making dinner, except the rhubarb, I don't know if goats can eat rhubarb or not.  If I kill the goat, I do not want it to be an accident.   

So here are some of the things I am going to attempt to do to reduce my wastefulness:  

1.  Give all extra food scraps that I do not compost to the goat, if it is meat scraps it will go to the dogs.

2.  I already try to conserve electricity, but I have been slacking lately so from now on I will unplug after I use.

3.  Be water conscious when washing my dishes

4.  Recycle all items possible

5.  Quit wasting time on the internet (besides blogging of course)

6.  Eat leftovers ( that one was hard for me to put on here, I really despise, no, abhorr leftovers)

If you can think of anything else to cut down on waste let me know, I am in the mood for a change.

I just wanted to throw out there that I love my husband, he does so much stuff to help me with my crazy projects, and he puts up with a lot of crazy Cassie stuff.  

Friday I just may go to a class about aquaponics, that area has interested me for a while now, and I am really hoping I can get my own system going.  I will write about it if I actually can get myself out of bed on  Friday morning and drive to Kalihi.  

  

Apologies

Wow, sorry it has been so long since I last posted.  I have really been busy, excuses excuses I know.    My husband and I did finish the chicken coop, the pics of that amazing feat of epicosity and engineering marvel are below

Marzipan the goat, oh how I loathe thee, let me count the ways.

1.  Tries to bite me when I am not looking
2.  Poops in the place I sit to milk her (I know she does this on purpose)
3.  Escapes her pen no matter what measures we institute ( at this point her pen looks like a tiger cage, all we need is the moat)
4.  Cries and whines about everything
5.  Kicks and lays down when I milk her
6.  Taunts the dogs to her own peril
7.  Tips over her water bucket
8.  Tries to bite Rosey when Rosey is not looking
9.  Eats the only good shrubbery I have
10.  Attempts to break into the grain, but when I give her grain she doesn't want it

Here is a Haiku as well:

warm breezes delight all


the foolish goat leaps to sky


hungry dogs drool falls




I also took my NCLEX-RN, I hope I passed, I really need to have passed.  I so desperately want to be done with studying.

Ummm lets see, I feel like there is more to write, but I am tired and can't think of anything so more to follow later, sometime when I am more awake.

It is here!!!!

Behold what the Vargas's have made with their own hands!  We finally finished the chicken coop, what a project.  It was dare I say fun for the most part.  There were a few moments of sheer frustration, but we plowed through those and finished the coop.  I still do need to paint the outside bit, I am going to paint it blue so it will match the color that the house will be (the house is currently pink, but will be painted blue someday)  here is for thinking ahead (-:  I put the chickens in the house part of their coop for the evening, and when it came time to let them out, the only one that was brave enough to jump down was Annalise.  The other chicks just stood around the door staring at her.  She was fine at first, but when she didn't get company she got really upset so I shoved the other chicks out the door, problem solved.  I can't even begin to tell you how happy this makes me to have it done.  The house is now ours again.  

Onolicious!

Yup I made this, with my own two hands.  It is a rhubarb strawberry crisp and it is fantastic,  The strawberries are sweet and the rhubarb adds just a little bit of tart. This reminds me of home so much.  It goes down great with some ice cold fresh goat milk.  

The floor to the coop

What other chickens do you know that get to poop on such an exquisite floor?

The ladies

Here are the ladies in their new home, they were pretty upset at being moved at first.  They chirp a lot when they are upset but they settled in well.

The Precious Puppies

This is Khan and Rosey.   Khan is the brindle and Rosey is the fawn.  Khan may look innocent and sweet but he is really slightly crazy.  Rosey is a wonderful sweet dog that I would clone if I could. 

Flying Goats

Yes, this is me smiling while milking my goat.  I ordered a pump milker online called the Henry milker, it is supposed to be non damaging to the teats and gets your milk pretty quick.  They are made by this gentleman in Alaska apparently he created it because he got arthritis and could no longer milk his goats.  I don't have arthritis and the hand milking thing is fine really it is but, I will maybe do it that way next year when she is on her second kidding and has settled down a little bit, but for now I just need a break, and I want some milk for me to drink.  Marzipan didn't mind the milker at all and stood like an angel, I got a decent bit of drinkable milk and was very pleased.  Reversing back to when I got home though, I nearly had a heart attack.  The dogs were napping on the porch, but I heard Marzipan baaaing and it definately was not from the direction of her pen.  Sure enough, that darn goat had escaped and was under the house making a racket.  I couldn't believe she hadn't been eaten by the dogs, she didn't have a scratch on her and went back in her pen just fine.  I figured she escaped by jumping on her house and then doing the leap over the five foot tall fence.  I am pretty impressed, and slightly irritated.  Apparently while we have been gone at work for the last week, she has been plotting her escape.  I can only imagine what ran through her goat brain and told her that today was the day.  I also don't understand her reasoning, because the dogs are out during the day and she is afraid of them.  I don't think I will every understand her, probably shouldn't try.  Well anyways the goat walked away from her escape unscathed which was a miracle, it would have figured that on the day the milker came in the mail the goat died.  Did I mention that that was her first escape?  She escaped again later that night, she must have springs on her feet or something, please understand that she stands a good 19" tall at the shoulder, how she can jump something three times taller than she stands is completely beyond me.  I am sure she was humming, " I believe I can fly" in her goat brain.  The wonderful husband and I had to reinforce the fence, I hate working with welded wire fencing, enough said.


The chicken coop is coming along so wonderfully, I feel like it could really happen.  We got hardware cloth nailed on to the sides and all we have to do is finish assembly, it could maybe, maybe be this weekend.

A small stray dog decided she liked our house and wants to live with us.  The neighbors think it may have belonged to the people who lived in the house before us.  I really don't know, it is a shy little thing and doesn't have a collar. The little dog just followed me around the yard and sat near us when we were working on the coop.  When I walked inside to get something the dog just followed me into the house, and trotted straight to the bedroom.   I shooed it out, but it is still hanging around and I am worried my big dogs will get ahold of it and that will be the end of the little dog.  

Roll and snort

Well, we took care of the dreaded grocery shopping today.  I hate paying money for stuff that I could potentially grow, but I gotta tell myself, one thing at a time.  Soon I will have fresh produce from my garden, and I will be able to have the fabled home grown meal.

The goat and I are getting along better, still not great but definately better.  I would upgrade us to frenemies.  She still is all weird about milking but she is actually standing pretty good now, and I am able to get milk, the cinder block under her belly is still there however. Khan is starting to love the goat because for now, I give him what I get because she inevitably steps in it and it is still a sad amount.  He waits outside the pen for me to be done milking and he usually has a good roll and snort while he waits.  For those of you that don't know what constitutes a proper roll and snort it goes something like this:  dog is supine, and vigorously oscillates body back and forth on the grass, said grass apparently tickles the nasal mucosa of the dog and he snorts.  This process repeats itself for quite some time until the dog has reached his rolling and snorting quota for the day.

Yesterday Marzipan got super frisky and was zooming around her pen jumping on her house and doing flying leap kicks off.  The dogs got pretty excited and soon they were all playing (fence separating).  I should get Marzipan another goat friend, but I am 100% certain that husband would kill me.

Diabolical

Can you see the evil in her eyes?

The great Father's Day chick escape!

Annalise and Pearl are on the window sill, I think that Annalise has been a bad influence on sweet little Pearl.   Agnes is the one perched on the edge of the brooder and Camille is still sitting in the brooder.  Camille is like the fat girl in gym class, she tries gosh darn it but just can't quite make it.    I got them all back in with little fanfare, and surprisingly nobody pooped!  I know I can hardly believe it either, its these small things that make my day.  I am now going downstairs to work on the coop.  

P.S.

Marzipan hates me, and the whole milking process I think she is going to hurt herself she thrashes so violently, I am out of ideas.   She nipped Jesse last night,  what a bratty goat.

Awkward adolescent stage

Annalise

Scratching

Meeeeeehhhh!!!

As soon as I get home from work, Marzipan greets me with her Meeehehhhh! usually shouted from the top of her dog kennel/house.  I know you think I am mean having a goat in a dog kennel, but she is so tiny and only weighs maybe 40 lbs and I have a giant size dog crate for my bullmastiffs.  Marzipan can walk in fine with about a foot and a half of head room, turn around and lay down comfortably.   She just wants some food na some scratches when I get home and I am helpless to resist.  She always looks at me with a mixture of interest and wariness.... I think the wariness is because she knows I am going to milk her, and interest because she knows I have grain, what a dilemna for a goat.  Things are getting better with milking, she still kicks and acts like she is dying, I am still surprised the neighbors haven't called the poilce,  but the moments in between I can really get the milk going.  I am just not getting as much as I though I would, I am sure that it is a combination of her being a first freshener and being stressed over the new environment.  I hope she starts producing more, I found a great chevre recipe online so I am going to have to try that once I get enough milk.

Annalise is so big, she far outweighs the other chicks and she is definately queen of the roost.  She is so darn bossy, and she can fly pretty well.  As soon as I take the cover off of their brooder, out she flys with a frantic flapping of wings, they are all in the awkward stage between chicken fluff and adult feathers.     I am impressed what can I say, and she almost always has time to make a poop on the floor before I can get her back in. The barred rock's adult feathers are coming in beautifully, I do think that despite being the smallest, Pearl has the nicest markings.  The chicken coop needs to be done, another week or so and they are going to be too big for their brooder and I seriously don't want to have to buy a bigger rubbermaid, and the girls are getting feisty.

Her name is Marzipan

Well this is marzipan, we got her on Sunday. She is what we now know to be a first time freshener which means she does not, emphasis on not like to be milked. Yup totally jumped into getting a goat, without knowing everything first.. pretty typical Cassie move.  We are getting there however, one day I will have milk. The amount of milk I get vs the kind of effort is saddening so I am choosing not to dwell too heavily on it. I didnt know goats could sit down, Marzipan certainly can.

Sent from my iPhone

Sunset from the lanai

Rosey loves the chicks

Elbow room

The chicks are getting big and starting to get real feathers in and get rid of their baby fuzz.  They seem more energetic than ever.  I on the other hand am so tired!  Working out and work and doing house chores around  plus studying is starting to wear on me, I am so looking forward to not studying anymore.  I haven't made any real progress with the chicken coop so far this week, I was really hoping to paint, but that just hasn't quite happened as the daylight runs out and so does my energy.  Living almost an hour away from work is hard, as it just eats your time driving and I don't get home till late and I leave the house really early.  Well, enough whining for now. 

I was perusing the Cold Antler Farm blog and was reading Jenna's post about having animals be workers and companions and I had some thoughts about that.  I suppose when you raise animals that provide from you, you need to get a different mindset and see them differently, not as beloved pets, but as creatures with a  purpose.  I think that is something that is important to understand, and I think I am beginning to understand that... but we will see when it comes time to slaughtering my first chicken or rabbit.  Many people I work with know that I love animals etc, but when I talk about raising them to eat, people get a little squirrely and seem to think it is weird or gross.  I am not sure how that is weird when almost everyone eats meet everyday, so I can only assume that it is the idea that you know your meat personally before eating that actually weirds people out.  Yup I get some weird looks sometimes when I discuss how much I am looking forward to having chickens or a dairy goat. 

Work and then work

Hooray! got a little bit done on the chicken coop, and I got another coat of paint on the master bedroom lanai.  The master bedroom lanai is a project that I thought would take me a weekend at most, and it is turning into a multi weekend endeavor.  I always try to do something right when I do it though and that is probably why.  I am sanding, scraping,  wood puttying, and then priming so it is taking forever.  It is those small things that make me feel I am doing something, I just wish I didn't have a job(-:  well not really, but I wish I didn't need to have a job.     The little spouts are growing,  don't know why, but it is such a miracle to me that things I plant actually grow.  All it takes is some dirt and water and sun and they poke their little green heads out of the ground, future deliciousness is growing.  I saw a goat on craigslist that I really wanted, but alas it was already sold, that is the thing about milking goats here, they go like hotcakes.   I suppose I should probably build the goat pen first though right?

Stormy weather

Sorry I didn't quite get to posting last night, we went to a movie and got back late.  Yesterday was really stormy and the weather was so odd for Oahu, there was even hail on the windward side of the island, wacky stuff.  The ladies are doing really well, I still can't quite believe I haven't killed a couple, if you knew my history with raising small animals you would be suitably impressed.  They are thriving and I swear they look bigger already, babies grow fast I guess.  Camille and Annalise are the two Ameraucanas and they are the trouble makers of the bunch.  I think it is odd how the Rocks and the Ameraucanas hang out with just each other and kind of ignore the other breed, I didn't know chickens could tell that kind of thing.  Rosey and Khan have met the chicks with a barrier between of course.  Rosey just likes to sit and watch them, and Khan, well Khan watches them because he is fantasizing about eating them and he left drool on the grill guard on top of their cage.  I am really going to have to be careful of him.

So eating breakfast this morning I was just thinking about how in maybe a year if everything goes well we will be able to eat eggs from  my chickens, drink milk from my goat and maybe even get butter.  (I know that goats milk is different than cows in that respect but you can still do it), I really would love to be able to provide my own honey, but I am conflicted about the idea of owning bees.  There is a possibility that I might be allergic I should probably get allergy testing done before getting a hive.  Nothing like getting stung and having a massive allergic reaction during my first day as a beekeeper.

My plants are sprouting as well, and I am looking forward to being able to put them in my raised bed garden.  I don't know if I should do more of if I am already biting off more than I can chew.   Today my husband and I are going to try to get cranking on that chicken coop, having chicks here already is a great motivator!

What is small and feathery?

I got my first chicks!  I now am the proud parent to four small fluffy future egg layers.  I got them from a feed store in Kaneohe after work, totally worth the drive.  Two ameraucanas and two barred plymouth rocks are the first of hopefully many that will inhabit my yard.  I can't believe that it actually happened after years of dreaming about them, they are here and now comes the hard part of keeping them alive.  Is it a little weird that I have names already?  They are:  Camille, Agnes, Annalise, and Pearl.  The ladies snuggled down and warm in their temporary brooding box.  I am constantly checking to make sure that the box isn't too warm or too cold.. worry worry.   Rosey and Khan, my two bullmastiffs haven't been allowed in the house yet, I know at some point they will have to meet the chicks, but I am pretty sure a more delicious bullmastiff snack  could not exsist!

With these new girls actually here, I am hoping it will give me a big push to get going and finish their coop.   This weekend hopefully will be productive, and I will at least get it framed and maybe finish the outer hardware cloth the next.