Blind Hog and Acorn

Blind Hog and Acorn got up WAY before the crack of dawn and drove to Jeff City to attend a Parasite Management in Small Ruminants seminar, hosted by Lincoln University. Acorn thought, "might as well- it is free" and danged if she did not learn something new.

After lectures and hands-on with sheeps (checking the color of their eyelids) it was time to have fun with manure pellets and microscopes!  The program  host...

Ugh!  So frustrating.  Good news is that the '61 MF 35 has a new distributor cap, rotor, points, condenser, coil, and negative battery terminal wire and clamp.  It ran like a top for 45 min after Fred worked on it for 2 hrs, now it is acting up again... Either a:  governor rod/linkage or b: still something in the fuel line/carburetor...

Much back and forthing on the tractor, Easter egging parts.  Blind Hog did get the...

Ragweed, humidity and a return from Texas.  other than that, not much else shakin' at the farm.

Massey Ferguson still being worked on, but the list of problem-causing items is being diminished.

Old Frank was in fine shape for Acorn's visit, was good to see hi and meet the other family.

Sam got skunked, so what else is new?  Chickens were having some discussion in the  middle of the yard and woul...

Acorn is taking off Friday morning for a weekend visiting The Goat Man, ol' Frank, in San Marcos TX.  Therefore, Blind Hog and Sam will be left to man the conn in her absence.

This week has been full of old tractor mechanic funs, problem is getting closer to being solved but not quite there yet...

Blind Hog will find himself with plenty of baked treats to ease his woes...  Cookies, cake, brownies, cornbread.....

THREE trees down in one week (as far as Blind Hog and Acorn know) and much firewood will be the result from two of them- the latest tree to fall was a sycamore and it is not much punkin' for burning...

July ended with 6.5" of rain so small wonder the trees were "loose in the ground..."

Goats are happy, geese are happy, Junior Constable Mouser has Sam and Inky as BFFs... Poor Boots has been miss...

Has been a good 10 years since the farm has witnessed such a long heatwave, and it isn't even August yet...  Good thing Savanna goats are heat tolerant!

The honey extraction worked well- about 7 gallons of dark amber spring honey.  Deeeeelicious!

Acorn is selling camera equipment so she can get a new camera that fits in a pocket instead of an albatross around the neck...  Blind Hog has been catching up on rea...

Triple digit highs next week?  Not looking forward to it!

Blind Hog and Acorn had a grand time with company- Dave, our former neighbor.  Had a fun-filled few days and even managed a trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Acorn DID get the littlest kids dosed with dewormer- tapeworms have shown up again.  Only kids get them, not so much with adult goats.

Will Blind Hog spend a few hours next week ...

Drought continues however there have been some bright sorts the past week- goats got sold, goats got moved, and everyone seems hunky dory....  Well, except for the garden which is forlorn for lack of plantings this year.

NEXT YEAR the garden will be lovely- Acorn promises.  Already planning to heavily compost then cover the raised beds, make it all extra good for next spring.

Just watching the clouds go by... No r...

Blind Hog and Acorn have another feline in the pig barn/ chicken coop... A little blonde kitten that is probably male...  Maybe...  Sgt's Inky and Boots can show him the ropes.

Selling goats during a low price slump, waiting for rain, and going on a diet of all things.  Talk about a variety of woes!

Acorn does love a good breakfast though...  Arroz con pollo, beans, tortilla, fruit... Put that fried egg on to...

Acorn has a set of 15 goats for sale, buyer to come up tomorrow- maybe Monday.  Will allow the farm to keep more of the 50% Savanna doelings for the great "breed up" program...

Got some rain, fields doing ok enough.  Geese have been given full use of the yard, not like they weren't doing it already...

Acorn is going to drop a few pounds... Fun fun there... Blind Hog needs all the calories he can get...

As work on the Springfield House comes to a close, Blind Hog and Acorn can focus their attention to the farm.  

Two trips to different IKEAs, assorted trips moving furniture and soon the job will be "mostly" done...

Geese are acting all cliquish- Alpha gander is bullying Bravo gander something awful, but geese will be geese.

Goats are getting caught not only in the fence, but sinking in the mud ...

A week of silly things happening, from unknown tractor belts to out-of-towners getting gas at Costco to varmints in the barns.

Rain evades the farm for the most part, but 0.47" did manage to fall to start off the month.

Goats are weaned, milking is in full swing and the chest freezers got sorted through. Skyr is going into the freezers at the rate of 3 qts a day.  At this rate, Acorn may only have to milk for...

Seed heads getting clipped of the fescue, fields are 2/3 done, if not a smidge more.

Old Pi, our oldest cow, died and got toted with as much ceremony as the farmers could muster, up to the Upper 40 to be laid out on the glade. She was a very good cow who was not trouble at all.  Never sick, always had a good calf.

Bucklings were taken to market, will see what they bring but prices have dropped a bit.

Acor...

If only the weather could last longer as it is...  Highs near 70F, lows nice and cool enough to sleep with the windows open and needing a bit of blanket..

Geese and goat kids are growing, garden is putting out asparagus.  Apple trees got a pruning so Blind Hog can ride the new mower under the branches and not lose his hat.

Zero turn mower is certainly the way to go!  If only it could cut 8" tall out in the fi...

Blind Hog and Acorn started off the week by getting a really good deal on a battery powered riding mower, saving $2K off list price, only to find out that yes- it did have a serious problem and so they got it back to Tractor Supply within 24 hrs (almost) for a refund.  Seems it had a problem with the first owner who returned it and the problem did not duplicate itself for the store  manager.

After much decision making, a z...

What a fun week at the farm! 

Goslings hatching, new porch furniture, a porky pig sighting, goat milking in the mornings and whatever did Blind Hog and Acorn find in the clothes dryer blower fan but a pair of blue racers!  BTW- Acorn did check to see if they were on the trail of mice but there was not one tell-tale dropping or sign of mouse nesting activities- what we had here was a pair of snakes looking for some "p...