Gone to Sheet

Somehow, while we've been dealing with family issues, we've got all our barndo walls put up with sheetrock! Things are moving now and hopefully soon we'll be able to live in our new barndo. Have I mentioned I'm sick of the RV? I am. Like totally done with it. When you see a commercial with a person using running water in a kitchen then seeing clothes coming out of a dryer and your are jealous of that capacity, then you know it's far past time. 

Last night, Rob and I window shopped through HEB talking about all the dishes we miss and the ones we want to try once we have a kitchen. We've been so deep fried fattened and sugar glazed, we're ready to have real meals again. You mean we can have eggs and bacon and toast all at the same time? Really?

Aside from that, all the animals are doing well and projects are slowly getting done around here. Next week, I may or may not blog due to the previously mentioned family issues. We'll just see how things go!

Stalling Out

Y'all, our part time ranch hand started today and she's amazing! In just over two hours, she got our stalls cleaner than they have ever been. You would have thought she figured out how to vacuum dirt floors. Seriously! I don't even care that compared to her, I am a city slicker. We are so lucky to have found her. 

But there's one strength I flex, animals love me. We started a new routine tonight where each coo has to let me pet their head before they can go into the stall. This was mainly to slow Ciarán down because she is the proverbial bull in the china shop. They allowed it and went calmly into their blissfully clean stall. Which they promptly urinated in, sigh, but oh well!

Fur Us

At Fur Real Farms, the animals are part of our family. As we're not the typical farm, we don't raise typical animals and we don't raise them typically. While we're milking the goats and breeding the coos, they're first and foremost for our pleasure. We need them and their love, especially on the hard days. 

Some people will laugh at us and have no problems telling us how we're wrong, but they're not us. Thank goodness. I've taken in animals who never were handled by humans and have turned them into social butterflies. Today, I finally got through to Ciarán!

I've brushed her a little bit here and there, but she refused to ever let me pet her. This evening though, she let me pet her behind the horns, on the forehead, and under the chin! She's accepted me and now the only one I've left to handle of all my animals is Sugar the goat. Soon Sugar, we'll get there!

False Starts

You never know what you're going to get with a Monday. All this time we've waited for the NRCS to give us the go ahead to get started with removing our mesquite, and now we're told we'll have to wait another year at least. Nope, we've already waited a year and we'd rather stay growing hay in our pasture for the animals than wait. So within the next couple of weeks, that's exactly what's getting done. 

Then there's the sheetrock for the barndo. Little oops there as they got started and no one had called the electricians to put the ductwork in for the air conditioning after the insulation was done. No harm done. The electricians will get started as soon as they can and the sheetrock guys will wait. 

Then we thought we were all ready to get the milking officially under way, but we're missing one thing to get started. It's been ordered and will arrive Wednesday, so only a couple of more days. So we're going to put Monday to bed and try again on everything tomorrow!

Bluebonnet Bliss

Ok, we did some of the list we had for this weekend, but I got smart on the rest. On Friday, I reached out to the community for part time help and found a wonderful woman who will hopefully start this week! The mucking the stalls and mowing the lawns is now off our plate. We're working smarter here, not harder. 

We still do several things ourselves, but it helps to have help. The animals don't care if you've had to drive all over the great state of Texas daily for various tasks, they still poop the same. Same with the grass/weeds around here. With those two things off our plate, we save ourselves several hours to complete other things that need to get done. 

In our quest to find that particular help, we also lucked out in finding someone else to help us with planting some trees and general handyman duties. He's going to be on a project by project basis which we love. 

So to round off this Sunday blog, Rob and I took advantage of some nearby bluebonnets for picture taking. Enjoy!

Busy Weekend Ahead

We've got a busy weekend ahead of us. From letting the kids go tomorrow, banding the boys, to getting milking into full production, that's just the beginning of it. 

We've got roses to plant, landscaping to plan, and chicks to move to their new location. We've got stalls to muck, troughs to clean and replenish, and animals to brush. If there's time and energy, there's people to see and things to do outside the farm. Busy!

However, we're enjoying it all. Our skies are bluer, our hearts are fuller and thank goodness, our barndo is coming along!

Gotta Learn Patience

One of my less admirable traits is I make decisions quickly. My brain always goes a hundred mph because of my anxiety, so I often forget most people take their time. As they should. Where I was fearing I was never going to find buyers for my gorgeous doelings, I just needed to exercise patience. All doelings have been reserved for pickup Friday! Even the one I secretly didn't tell anyone about. 

Ok, I'll explain. There is one particular doeling I first thought was a boy. But when they're first born, it's not always easy to tell with all their squirming. The one I had affectionately named Floppy, I must had felt an udder or a clump of mud for the boy part, because she indeed is a girl. I didn't tell anyone because I was thinking one of my local friends would grab her, but when pressed today if I perhaps had just one more, I had to tell the truth. So Floppy and all the other doelings are going to their new homes on Friday. 

The bucklings are going to stick around longer. The banding takes time and I want to see which of them do well with their father. If one or all three keep him entertained and less Nutty as his name is, then they'll stay here. I'm not naming them yet though, just in case they're not a good fit and would be better off elsewhere. 

Boutique Farm

The other day, I was talking with a gentleman who said I had boutique animals on my farm. You know what? I like that! Consider Fur Real Farms a boutique farm for all the cuddly animals. Whether you want a small goat to show you some sweet parkour moves, a mini donkey to play tag with, or a long haired cow you want to take selfies with, I've got them all. And I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Other farms need their farms to be more functional than fun. While we're still a business farm, we focus more on the fun and encouraging all the spirit of each animal. We don't make them do traditional work and believe me, every single one of my animals is treated better than probably we all treat ourselves. They know they're loved and safe and they're learning that having their fun is their job and they're totally cool with it. The only ones not having as much fun on the farm is the chickens, but even they have it ok. 

The chickens do unfortunately get bulldozed at times by the goats. They have to find the tastiest insects in the worst of places. And we keep stealing their eggs which makes them upset sometimes. But even they are fed well and sometimes petted. When they allow it that is!

A Little Chuckle

I think Rob is about to ban me from Tractor Supply. For starters, we go there. A lot. We've moved away from getting hay and several feeds to local feed stores, but we always find something we like/need there. It's our fun place to walk around and we love all the people who work there. 

However, I have a bad habit that the manager has clued in on. I like deals and he finds me those deals. I came incredibly close to buying a gigantic metal rooster today. Do I need it? No. But if we had driven the truck instead of the SUV, we probably would be owners of the giant rooster. Hey, I support the local community with all my shopping. You're welcome. 

All in all, a good Monday. The barndo got half of it spray foam insulated, with the rest being done tomorrow. It's moving along!

Why So Big?

Why does Texas have to be so big? Normally I brag about it, but as those who are interested in my kids are from the furthest reaches, it's not great. I could drive hours upon hours, but that's not cost effective. Ditto to hiring someone to do it. Hopefully as we keep trying, those closer will be interested. 

In the meantime, we're getting ready for castration around here. The bucklings have dropped their baby bombs, so we'll be banding them here soon. I've got all the equipment, I'm just giving a few more days to see if anyone wants an intact buckling. Once the bands go on, there's no turning back. 

Poor Nutty will finally have at least one wethered friend/son to keep him company as he's still ostracized from the girls. He doesn't understand how lucky he is to remain part of the farm. Others swap the boys like crazy!

Gully Washer

We had a very healthy rain late this afternoon! How do I know this? Well, I was in it. No, really. Totally immerse in it. 

Let me explain. I have the does and kids separated from everyone else. They get the pen and the barn, the other animals get the pasture. What I thought was going to be a quick rain, turned heavy quickly, and I jumped into action. 

I raced outside, slipping and sliding with the slickest mud ever, and got most of the animals inside. I hand carried my filthy, smelly, overweight billy goat into his stall before he could do damage with the other goats. The cows easily went into their stall. The donkeys? I tried several times to coax them inside, but they cowered against the side of the barn getting thoroughly pounded with rain. I spent the rest of the deluge huddled in the barn. 

Once, the rain stopped, almost as quickly as it started, Rob ventured out and helped me get the donkeys inside. I learned a valuable lesson today, my water resistant jacket is not waterproof. There is a difference and my becoming a drenched rat would be the evidence. 

Here's pics of wiring and hoses. Either tomorrow or Monday is spray foam insulation!

Field Test

Ok, I didn't update the barndo pics today. My bad! But, I did have a friend over to give Flora a field test. Flora aced it! She allowed my friend to cuddle all over her and take selfies. Yay Flora!

What's cool, too, is Brogan and Coorie also came up to meet our guest. Brogan allowed for some petting, or even so far to say as light cuddling, while Coorie only let me pet her. Still, what progress!

I was about to sign off for the weekend, but it's only Wednesday. So um yeah, I'll write more tomorrow and possibly update the barndo, too?

That Was Easy

I don't know why, but all the animals went into their stalls tonight with no fuss. Usually we have a couple who like to be difficult, but not tonight. We didn't thoroughly inspect the pasture, but I've got a feeling they did something I won't like. They're just like kids, if they get into something they know they shouldn't, they act like angels. Right now, I'm too tired to care what I've got to fix later. 

On the barndo front, we've got water! It's my goal tomorrow to take some pics to update both here and on FB. I was also told we're about 90 days out from completion. So yay, we've somewhat got an end date!

That's about it for today. It was national pie day and I didn't get pie, which is unfortunate. See? Not everything's perfect in my world! 

This is one of Scotchie's kids. He's a little handful, but beautiful and full of spunk!

Doors To Open

I was told by my builder today to decide on interior doors! Not only that, but hopefully by Friday, it will be time to spray foam insulate the house and then next week get going on sheetrock. Of course, this is all dependent on the plumbers finishing up their stuff by Thursday end of day. Considering they didn't come today and won't be here Wednesday, I'm not getting my hopes too high. Maybe they'll surprise me. 

While we had to go to check out what a knotty alder versus a knotty pine looks like, we also took the opportunity to look at and decide on bathroom tile. Rob wanted his shower to be super sleek and that's one of the very few things I let him decide. Luckily, he chose well. 

We still have a few things to pick out, but mostly we're done and just need it done. I am so very ready to move in, take a long hot bath and then stretch out on a true king sized bed. 

Save The Day

First, I loathe the spring forward and fall back hour changes each year. Can't we save daylight another way? Who does this really help anyway? I'm a farmer now and it doesn't help me. Just saying. 

On happier topics. We started milking the does today and listed the kids for adoption. Our does did better getting on the stanchion than I thought they would. However, we've now got to figure out how to separate the does from the kids as it's our turn for milk. That's a problem for another day. 

Also, Coorie is starting to love her brushing time! I've got about three quarters of her done, just the tail and belly and legs left. She's so so so soft! I truly hope she will live up to her name and let me snuggle her soon!

Ugly Phase

I get a kick out of how all animals and humans have that awkward pubescent phase. Let's be honest, there's at least one yearbook photo of yourself that you would rather not ever see again. Well, our Orpington chicks have reached this stage. Boy howdy, they are most definitely not cute right now. 

I'm not even going to take a pic of them because I do want to forget this phase of theirs. They've got some of their cute chick fuzz left and then feathers are popping up through it. Because they're lavender, the feathers are growing in dark against the light fuzz. It's truly like seeing a long dark curly hair in your bowl of white rice. I'll say it outright, they're ugly right now!

I know this is just a phase and soon they'll look good again. In the meantime, Rob's in charge of feeding them. He's the mama hen anyway. 

When they were cute haha

Stubbornness

There's one theme you'll constantly recognize with me and animals, stubbornness. Sometimes I let them have their way, but other times, I'm going to hold my ground. Tonight was a ground holding night. 

As we've had Ciarán and Coorie for almost two months now, I had still yet to really get to pet Coorie. Ciarán is one of those helicopter moms and I let her get away with that for awhile. Tonight though, I needed a win. And a win is what I got. 

Without treats, without protection, I braved the cow stall during feeding to try and brush Coorie. Remember, she has had zero human touch thanks to her mama. While Ciarán was stuffing her face, I cornered Coorie and started brushing all Highlands favorite spot, just behind their horns. That's all it took. After that, she let me continue brushing her, petting her, and loving on her. The poor girl has a ton of matted fur, so I'm going to continue working on her in the days to come and hopefully as well, win over her mom. 

Just ask Rob, when I get my mind on something, no animal is going to best me. I'm more stubborn than any of them, bar none!

Bluebonnets!

We didn't plant them, we didn't even know they were there, but we have the smallest little patches of bluebonnets! It's spring y'all. 

With spring usually comes the cleaning part. Usually, for regular people I guess. For me? It just means I put the sweatpants away. What else am I supposed to do? The barndo isn't finished yet and there's no point in deep cleaning the RV as everytime we open the door more dirt blows in anyway. So yeah, y'all clean, I'm just going to enjoy our tiny patch of bluebonnets. 

Plumb Lucky

It felt like we waited forever, but the plumbers started today! What's even better, we only forgot one thing on our house plans for the plumbing side. No really, only forgetting one thing is actually good if you look at how much we changed the electrical!

So, the one little itty bitty thing we forgot was the water softener. Unfortunately, we have zero floorplan available for that. Luckily, we do have a we'll house (well, we will) and it can go in there! The plumber was upset we wouldn't have a hard water line going into our house, but the only purpose for hard water is to water the grass, which we don't have, and we can find a different way to get water there. Yay!

The plumbers aren't as conversational as the electricians, metal guys, and stud masters were, but this was only the first day. I'm sure I'll wear them down in no time!

Dress Up

Lately, my schedule has been extremely hectic. If I'm not going, I'm coming and vice versa. But today, I took a little me time to spend with the kids as we'll be opening up their adoption soon. 

One of my friends had sent me the cutest pic of a goat wearing a floral crown and tutu that I decided to try and duplicate. Well, my goats don't just sit still, so we did the best we could. It was fun and I got some cute pics out of the deal. 

This week promises to be more of the same in terms of craziness. I'm not joking, everytime I cross one thing off my list, three new things get added. I was told there was front porch sitting in the country, I'd like to get to that point!

Rainy Evening

I'm so freaking proud of Rob and I! Since we don't have accurate weather forecasts for our little slice of heaven, I've been paying more attention to how it actually feels outside. I started noticing a change around 5 and told Rob we should probably get the animals in. They didn't fight us, so I'm sure they were sensing it, too. Once they were all put away and the pups had a quick potty break, we settled inside the RV and two minutes later the storm rolled in!

Y'all don't know how great a feeling it is to not have to slip and slide through mud to get livestock inside. We'll still have to slip and slide in the morning more than likely, but that's a tomorrow problem. For now, everyone have a great weekend and we're just going to enjoy the rain. 

Yep, That's Next

As the days are getting longer and warmer, I realize that we do indeed need to provide more shade for all the animals. We don't really have trees, although we will eventually plant some, but it looks like we need to do some loafing sheds or something as well. 

Last year, we didn't have to separate anyone from anyone and that was great. This year, we've got some boys who will need to be separated for a short time which leaves the only shade, the barn, as a luxury for the girls only. We're not even done with the other projects I've got going, but yeah this is next. I don't want Ciarán to get even moodier, ok? You try telling our big, pregnant, hairy black cow she can't have the barn, I dare you!