Must get back into this!

Fall has arrived. The trees started turning last weekend. I had the Angora Goats sheared professionally a couple of weeks ago by Danny Smith. Danny makes short work of shearing the critters, and the money he charged ($50 for the 7 goats) was extremely well worthwhile. It saved me untold hours of shearing with a scissors.

For those who don't know, John's Dad, Tim Donovan, passed away rather suddenly last month. My heart is still heavy with his loss. The world changes when the last family member of a generation passes on. We miss him very much.

We are getting kind of back to normal now.

Now, for the farm news: I have failed rather spectacularly in my vegetable growing efforts this year. It rained so much that my onions and potatoes rotted in the soil, my tomatoes set fruit that never seemed to ripen and leaving for a week of studying spinning and dying and felting in July allowed the weeds to completely take over.

I improved the henhouse by adding 3 windows in it for better air circulation. The hens were not impressed and started moulting and stopped laying for a month. I'm just now starting to get some eggs again. And now I have to devise some shutters for those wire covered windows so I can close them once it starts freezing at night.

We are going to make some improvements next month. Digger Jim is going to move dirt around and build some french drains to keep water from flowing into the barn. He is also going to add two water hydrants for me - one up by where the garden in the field next to the yard is, and one that will pull water down to the lower small garden area, so if we ever have another DRY year, I can water the plants.

Jim is also going to put gravel out behind the barn, where the goats go in and out, to keep it dry -currently, it is a muddy mess. He's also going to fix the gutters and the drains on the barn. I may do some research into finding some rain barrels to divert the rain into - it might be an easier way to keep the chickens and goats watered.

Then, on the other side of the road, in our horse pasture, he is going to build a 12x36 lean-to shelter for the horses. Currently, the horses have lots of woods and stuff to get to in bad weather, and have survived just fine for two years, but with Willy growing older, I'd feel better knowing he has a sturdier shelter to keep the wind off his back.

I insisted that Digger Jim add a closet that I can store their feed in, and he had just never heard of anyone doing that - he kept saying, just keep it in a 55 gallon drum next to the shelter - I don't think he realized that Willy will break into something like that once he knows there is grain there!! I think I finally convinced him that I need a lockable door to keep that 55 gallon drum behind! If not, I will build my own 'storage locker' for the horse feed.

By the way, we are having a beautiful morning here! The sun is rising over Castle Argghhh! and the fall trees are magnificent.