Whispering Acres

Boxes of Happy

2012-01-22T17:26:00.001-06:00

I've got two boxes to talk about today - both of which made me very happy! It's always nice to receive something in a package in the mail....there's something about opening a box or package that is like unraveling a little mystery. Sometimes you know the box is coming, and sometimes you don't!

The first box of happy was one that I knew was coming. A looooong time ago, Millie the goat at Eden Hills had a lovely giveaway for her human's new online shop! I was the lucky winner, and I was able to choose 2 products from her bath and body selection as my prize. It was difficult to choose from all the yummy choices, but I selected the "relaxing" scent soap (because I need to relax more) and the "earthy" scent bath salts, because I do love a nice warm bath in the winter, and I'm a bit of an earthy girl.

It was very exciting to receive a box in the mail from a goat! Yes, Millie Ann herself sent it!

It was very nicely packed with packing paper so nothing would get damaged. And as I opened it, it just smelled wonderful!

Here was the source of the lovely smell - this is the soap! What an elegant label.

I tried to encourage Fezzik to take an interest in the soap - I thought he might like to consider daily showers with it so that he smelled less goaty. He briefly stopped to consider it...

...but decided his goat chow was MUCH more interesting.

Well that's just fine by me, because I want that soap all to myself! It's a lovely scent - not too strong, and just right for me or for Richard, since we both need to relax!

The bath salts come packaged in a lovely little jar - so pretty to sit on the edge of the bath! Do you see that I finally got the tiles grouted? They actually look quite nice and I'm pleased at how the bathroom is progressing, even though it's a bit slower than I'd like. My Dad is working on a nice front piece for the tub now, so that'll be the next stage!

In any case, I think that the bath salts look so lovely in their little jar, coordinating with my tiles, that I haven't actually used any yet. They smell fabulous and I keep opening the jar and smelling it and then putting it back because I don't want to lose my pretty bathroom "ornament" yet!

I do encourage you to visit Millie Ann's human's shop! She makes lovely bath products! Not only that, you can buy popcorn from her farm! And, guess what?! You can lease a GOAT! Go check it out! A huge thank you to Millie Ann Saanen and her lady in Iowa for hosting the giveaway!

The second Box of Happy was completely unexpected and a lovely surprise! Isobelle's lady sent it to me! What a wonderful treat! She knows that things have been difficult here with all the craziness due to the former owner's disregard for his promises on helping us carry on his wine business. It has made me so unhappy and she knows that I've been trying very hard to find at least part time employment with no success. She sent me a box full of "happy" to make me feel better. I was completely surprised!

There were two lovely reversible placemats for our kitchen table! There was a gorgeous skein of sock yarn that I can't wait to knit! It has the very funny name of "Bite Me" for the colourway, which gave me a good giggle. She also sent a lovely card with her very own hand drawn characters of her barnyard residents. What a sweet thing to do!

She also tucked in two pairs of these lovely warm socks. I can only show you one pair because the other one has already been worn and it's in the wash! They have sheep on them, of course!

Thank you so much to my special "goat-sister" in New York for this virtual hug! You really made my week!

*Special Addition (after original post)*
Since Marigold asked, even though Isobelle's lady will probably have a fit, here are her lovely drawings of her critters from the card. I think they look super! You can see Tuuli and Wickery the sheep, beautiful Number in his blanket, the mini-horses, and I do believe Thistle is scampering across the card. Isobelle is lovely of course, and she would not be horrified at all! An artist at work, here!

Goats! Trees! And an Impending Project!

2012-01-06T18:09:00.000-06:00

The goats have been very happy for the past couple of days because they were given a special treat! Or should I say treet?

The road on which I live had a large machine go by a few weeks ago that did some pretty major trimming along the side of the road. Unfortunately, this trimming involved a lot of trees with pretty wide trunks, including a lovely old apple tree. I don't know why the county felt a need to get quite so vigourous with their brush cutting, but the outcome was a massive mess of branches and lots of young spruce trees that were cut off at the base.

I gathered quite a few of these felled trees and dragged them up to the barn, because the goats love spruce, so it was a free food source that was pre-cut for me to haul up to the hungry herd! As you can see, they are very pleased.

Oh wait, no, I guess you can't see. Word to the wise. When you're trying to take pictures in a cold barn, you can't breathe out at the time time you snap the picture, otherwise all you take a picture of is a plume of breath that is making a little cloud in front of the lens!

Here we go - wee Westley to the left and Fezzik to the right, along with the sheep in the background, all having a good gnawing on a spruce!

Wee Fezzik has been doing well with his winter turtleneck-coat on and seems to be at least maintaining his weight despite the cold, which was what I had hoped for. He still gets his special molasses oats treat every day to keep the weight on him as much as I can without giving him a case of the runs!

Moving on, you may recall, if you are a regular reader, that a while ago we bought cabinets to re-do the kitchen here. We're not quite ready to do that project yet, but when we bought those cabinets, we bought a few extra units so that we could install some in my upstairs "studio" area, giving me places to store yarn, spinning fibre, dye materials, and other goodies. It is with much excitement that I can tell you that the project to install these cabinets is set for Sunday! Woohoo!!

Here are the cabinets that we have moved upstairs in preparation for the project! There are two like the cabinet facing the camera on the left. Nice big drawer and cupboard. Then there is a smaller one (narrower) that is the same height.

This is the sink cabinet unit. Eventually we will get a nicer sink but one thing at a time!

Here is where they'll be installed (the chaos zone). We'll get rid of this grungy old half-baked plywood counter and put in the cabinets and a nice piece of second hand countertop (which already had a sink hole!) that we were able to get. It is a nice dark greenish looking laminate. Easy to clean.

All those bottles under the sink are my fibre dyes and detergents, etc. The microwave is for dyeing also. All our bathroom stuff is also there because our bathroom doesn't have a sink yet, so we have to use this one for that too. Anyway, I can't wait to do the project and get things put away in their proper, organized places. I'll be sure to show some pictures after our work!

Keeping on keeping on

2012-01-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

I have been a bit remiss in blogging, but I guess I haven't much felt like it lately. Sometimes there just seems to be a bit too much on the plate these days, and I get a little bit grumpy about the situation with the house and everything. Still, it's not as if I'm just sitting in the corner bemoaning things.

This past week, I built a shelf for the temporary bedroom. It's the temporary bedroom because the master bedroom is a long way off from being finished, let alone started, really. So the temporary bedroom is a small, cramped room with limited options due to the sloping ceiling. It scarcely fits the bed and there's no room for nightstands or other useful furniture. There is a closet but much of it is blocked by the bed, and the part that isn't blocked is used for Richard's clothes since it's more important for him to use the hanging space since he needs to look nice to go to work. Can't have him looking like he slept in his clothes! As a result, I had a small shelf on which all my clothes were going, and it wasn't enough once winter came because winter clothes are bulkier and take up more space. Thus, I had a large heap on the floor that became my closet. Not a good option!

I decided to remedy this problem by making a shelf out of any materials I could scrounge up around the house. There was a bifold door that we didn't like that had been presumably bought for the closet door but it won't work for that closet because the bed would prevent the door from opening, so I took it apart. I used the two pieces as the sides of my shelf unit. I then found another bifold door that could be chopped open to make a top and bottom shelf.

I scrounged up some boards to use for shelves but some weren't wide enough so I had to use 2 boards for some shelves. The shelf wood was pretty nasty all around - splintery and in bad shape. I considered sanding and painting, but that seemed like a lot of work for what will hopefully be a relatively short-term solution, so I got out the staple gun and covered the nasty boards with scraps of cotton jersey that I'd found in the mouse-infested boxes when I was cleaning out the junk earlier in the summer. I'd washed the pieces twice, thinking they might come in handy, and sure enough they did.

Anyway, it's not pretty or fancy or anything, but it does the job. I'm constantly kicking myself for all the furniture I sold and/or gave away in Iowa before I left. I didn't think I'd need it, but I sure do!

I've also continued working on improving the bathroom and the most recent effort has been putting some tile along the bath edge that I previously showed - the one my Dad designed for me. I'm waiting for the adhesive to dry fully. The package says 72 hours but I want to leave it for an extra day because the temperature of the house is quite cool so it may need a little extra time. Then I'll be grouting. I like the soft blues and whites of the tiles - it will lend itself to an aquatic-themed room.

I'm also still working on finishing the home-office room. I've been moving stuff around and painting in sections. It wasn't practical to move stuff out of the room so I just keep moving it around within the room. Still, it's getting done and I begin to feel better about it - there's still a way to go on the trim and the wall behind me in the picture. I love the warmth and the colours and it begins to be the first room that actually feels like a home. Ignore the bare bulb. Light fixtures will be forthcoming someday...

So, I'm still here, I'm still working on things, and I'm really going to try to blog a bit more often.

Transformations

2011-12-05T18:42:00.001-06:00

I have said it before, but here I am, saying it again. I have....THE BEST PARENTS EVER!!! I'm not saying that because I'm biased. I'm saying that because now, at the age of 42, when life has taken some unexpected twists and turns and all seems to be lost, they are still always there for me. Without fail. I love them so dearly, and would be quite lost without their unceasing love and care.

It's really difficult to make much progress around here. Richard has to work a lot of hours in his new job, even though it's only a 35 minute commute instead of a 1.5 hour commute. He works late nights and by the time we eat supper, it's time for bed. This means that it's hard for me to make significant progress here by myself. I go slow and steady, one day at a time. Then, suddenly, my parents will visit for a day, and massive progress is made! Let me show you some of the progress!

We have a bit of an issue with water when showering. You see, the bathtub that was installed by the former owner is not the type that is supposed to be used with a shower. The side edges are not designed to guide water into the tub and down the drain. Therefore, when the shower is used, water accumulates in the corners of the tub surround and it gradually fills up until it pours out onto the bathroom floor. Not so good. We have been making-do with towels stuffed into the gap. Here you can see on far left side and on the right hand end, there is nothing to stop the water pouring out as it accumulates.

As a result, we had to figure out a way to prevent this problem - Dad to the rescue! My Dad, woodworking genius that he is, took some very careful measurements on his last visit. He then went home and built a wooden surround for the two sides that have this water accumulation problem. It fits exactly in the space that is available.

He also installed a sloped side on the far end of the tub so that water will simply drain back into the tub from there too. A simple but elegant solution.

The next step is for me to use the tiles that we bought to tile the surface of the surround, such that the water that accumulates will not be able to go anywhere but back into the tub and down the drain. Even though the wood barrier has several coats of primer, it is still vulnerable to water, so we need to finish the job properly. Of course, I'll be showing you pictures of that when it's complete. Stay tuned!

While my Dad was working to install this useful improvement, my mother and I were working on the future office space. Remember that dreadful space with the dog-pee soaked carpet and the vast swaths of dust and grime? Oh yes, it was unforgettable! As you may recall, I had begun painting it and cleaning it out for our eventual use as a home office. Now, my wonderful bookshelves have been installed.

First, she and I worked on installing a piece of carpet (I had to buy carpet remnants because at the moment, due to the fact that the winery plan is non-functional, thanks ever so much to the previous owner's failure to follow through on his promises, we don't have enough money to buy full carpet for the room). I was getting ready to install the remnant with the cut side that was the most even-looking side snugged up to the wall. She pointed out that with the space under the baseboards, we could put the raggedy side up to the wall because it would disappear under the baseboard, and thus have the better side facing out! My mother is full of energy and good ideas! We then cut a space to just perfectly fit the old fashioned vent for the wood furnace - she helped feel around for the vent while I cut the carpet. I will later be stripping and re-painting all the vents.

We'll need more carpet to finish the room, but for now, at least we could stabilize the shelving by using the carpet to compensate for the warped floorboards.

After we installed the carpet section, my mother and I assembled some shelves that my Dad made for me when I was a small child. These shelves have traveled far and wide with me, and been dis-assembled and re-assembled more times than I can count. Still, they go together like clockwork, and they are an old friend, carrying loads of books no matter where I live. My mother and I not only assembled them....we unpacked countless boxes of books to rest on those dear shelves. All this, coupled with the background of my new goldenrod-coloured walls and green trim...well, it was enough to bring me to tears.

The difference between the former room and the current room is that my books are not weighed down with dust and dirt and lack of use. My books are cherished, loved, and treated with respect. This....this is how it should be.

We even found some places for well loved friends!

Also special places for my green glass bottles, which I just adore, and for the wonderful cocobolo wood pear that my father turned for me on his lathe. I have always loved that piece!

Since the large mound of book boxes has been reduced, I can now paint the remainder of the office more easily. These things can only happen in stages! After I have finished painting, we will try to use the remnants to go around the outside of the room and then try to find a dark green carpet remnant for the centre of the room to tie the colours together.

I unpacked more boxes of books today and ran out of room on the shelves. Fortunately we have more bookshelves, but they're not in place yet, so many boxes will remain unpacked for now.

Oh, and in case you should wonder, we were well fueled in our work! My mother, supreme chef that she is, brought her excellent split pea and ham soup to give us all strength, and we enjoyed her homemade smoked salmon spread on fresh baked bread, along with a cool glass of sparkling pear cider. Really, in the face of adversity, who could ask for more? These are the things that matter....not the pain of the failed hopes, the hurt caused by someone who would not follow through on his promises. It is the love of family and the care that we show for those that we love....these are the things that get us through the hard times.

The Gold Stamp of Approval

2011-11-26T10:08:00.000-06:00

Maaaaaaaah! It's me, Lucky Nickel!

We got a gold stamp of approval from Millie the goat! We love Millie and her herd of friends. Four of our former friends are there - Opal, Lotus, Coffee and Osmo. Millie sometimes says that she will feed Opal to the chupacabra, but we know she's only joking. Who wouldn't love Opal?! Right, Millie? The Gold Stamp comes originally from Tayet's goat, named Gold. How perfect!

Here are the rules:

If you are awarded The Gold Stamp of Approval, you must tell everyone 3 silly things about your goats.
Link to your favorite goat or farm blogs and add a nice tidbit about why you like them!
Please make a link back to the person you received the award from.
Inform the award receiver that they have an award, by comment on their latest post or email.
Have fun!

So, we are now going to tell you 3 silly things about us, the goats.

1. My lady comes up with very silly names for us goats. Mine is the only good name. I am named Lucky Nickel because the vet who delivered me was Dr. Nicholson, and I was lucky he was there, or else I would have died, so she put Lucky and "Nickel" from Nicholson together to make my name, which is just right and a good name. Inigo, Westley and Fezzik are named after 3 characters from the movie called the Princess Bride. This is silly because none of them are princesses or brides and they haven't been in a movie, so I don't think she was thinking straight. Also, when she is talking to Inigo, sometimes she says "Hello, my name is Inigo Goatoya, you sheared my father, prepare to die" and then she laughs. Clearly, she is completely silly, but she says people who saw the movie will "get it." Caramel kept her name from her previous farm. I still think it's silly because a caramel is a food and we don't eat goat here. My lady is silly and that means her goats get mostly silly names.

2. When I was little, my lady would let me ride on her back. That was silly. I should have been riding in a golden carriage, encrusted with jewels, wearing a tiara. Why did my lady think that I should be riding on her. She is so silly.

3. Sometimes, my lady makes us wear clothes. This is completely silly.

Here is a picture of me from back in Iowa, when I was wearing her exercise shorts. She said it was to keep the diaper on. I know better. She just likes to play dress-up.

See? Quite silly.

Now we are going to list our favourite goat blogs. Here they are, in no particular order:

Of course, we love Millie's blog because she writes so often and always has great pictures, and she lives with our former herd mates in Iowa. We also like Millie's lady's blog - she writes very nicely and my lady likes to read about her thoughts and adventures. And hey, while we're on the subject, you should check out Millie's fabulous new farm store where you can buy lovely soaps and popcorn from her farm and tree ornaments and all sorts of fun things!
We love Isobelle's blog because she is very astute, and has good observations. She also has a lovely herd with Number the horse, of whom my lady is very fond, and some sweet mini horses and 2 little sheep, and my lady says Isobelle's lady is super.
We enjoy Tayet's blog about her goats in Wisconsin, and she was clever enough to come up with the Gold award, so we think you should visit her too.
Darla's blog, by her lady Mimi, is such fun to read. We are looking forward to seeing Darla being the Yule Goat in her special Capra coat.
We think Marigold's blog is always worth reading. She has lots of reasons to be cheerful, and words of wisdom to impart, and lots of important information about peanuts.
Baby Belle, also called Millie, has a very funny blog. My lady usually cracks up when she reads it and always gets a chuckle from Millie's stories. It's one of our favourites.
We like Goat Berries, because it's exotic since it is about some goats in Italy. We have not been to Italy, but our lady has, and she says they have very good food there, so we think we should go.
Finally, we like our friend Kaori's blog, in Japan. She doesn't speak English and my lady doesn't speak Japanese, but they interact using Google translate and my lady gets the general idea of her blog. Kaori has two goats - Nana and Ran Maru. Even if you can't understand it, there are lots of good pictures and it is fun to see goats in Japan!

I think that is all for now....there are so many good goat blogs out there, but these are our favourites! If any of them have not already received the award, we are awarding it now! We think you are all golden!!

Now, I must go and perfect my Snow Queen look. I am practicing so I can be in a movie. I already have the imperious look perfected, but I need to improve my stomping.

Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!

2011-11-22T14:51:00.000-06:00

I have been negligent in blogging! I have been sooooo busy! I had much preparation to do for a craft fair event and have been busy with a whole host of other things, and it just seemed like I would never have a moment's peace. Today, I have a brief moment to report exciting news!

We have eggs!

Let me just repeat that, for the sheer joy of it! WE HAVE EGGS!

This is very exciting for me. My very first farm animals, back in Iowa, were 3 lovely chickens. From there I branched out into sheep, goats, llamas, angora rabbits, and ducks, not to mention geese and donkeys. It was chickens, though, who got me started on so many changes in my life, and they hold a special place in my heart. There is something quite charming about a little feathered creature who lays eggs, like little gifts in the nest box, just waiting to be found. Orbs of perfect goodness - an excellent protein source and a base for so many recipes, both savoury and sweet.

When I left Iowa, my hens were dispersed. Some went to friends in Iowa. Some went to live with Isobelle the Beautiful Goat, in New York. None came with me. They are quite an ordeal to bring over the US/Canada border, requiring quarantine - even Lucky Nickel didn't need quarantine! So it was with much sadness that I started my new life here without my hens, without any eggs. I managed to get some chicks in June and somehow lucked out with my picks from a straight run batch, choosing 7 hens, but of course they were too young to lay yet. I then got a breeding pair of cuckoo marans from Hidden Meadow Farm on September 2, but she immediately decided to moult, so I had no eggs from her either!

This week, finally, we had our first egg! And our second! And today, our third and fourth, in one day!! It is just about perfect timing because my Dad made me 6 beautiful wooden eggs, turned on his lathe, for the purpose of enticing the hens into the nest boxes.

Hens like to lay in places where other hens have laid eggs, so fake eggs are often used to encourage first-time layers to lay in the right spot.

One of today's two eggs was successfully laid in the nest box beside two wooden eggs! Hooray!

I think that one of the Rhode Island Reds is laying, and I do believe that these are her first 3 eggs.

You can see that the sizes are different, but I think the smallest one was her first, and now she is "ramping up" to size. If that is the case, she has laid 3 eggs in 4 days. Hooray!

The other egg is definitely different. It's rather an unusual shape - quite pointed on one end.

It has lovely darker speckles on it.

I suspect the copper maran, but I may be wrong. I suspect her because I actually caught her in the nest box later in the day. Perhaps she was checking on her earlier offering?

Either that, or it's another hen's egg and I am just not sure whose! It didn't come from either of the two Polish hens, because they lay white eggs. The other breed possibilities are the second Rhode Island Red (doubtful with those speckles), the light brahma, or the silver-laced Wyandottes. Time will tell!

For the moment, I'm just terribly excited to have my own eggs again, so I don't have to buy from the store. Three cheers for the hens!

Painting: Advice that didn't work for me

2011-11-07T13:39:00.000-06:00

A while ago I posted about my plans to decorate my studio. No, I haven't done it yet. Sadly, it's close to the bottom of the list of priorities right now. When I did that post though, I received a lot of sound advice and helpful tips from those who had been there before me. I appreciated all the advice. For example, using primer to cover up old dark colours or other faults is a universally good plan. Also, using good quality brushes and/or rollers is another top tip. But I digress...let's start with where the painting was going to occur.

Remember this room from my blog post about turning a desk into a chicken nesting box?

Well, that room is our "home office" and it was one of the most disgusting rooms I have ever had the displeasure of cleaning out. The clutter was incredible - the dust on the bookshelves was literally measurable...and the chaos of books turned out to be mostly obsolete catalogues for tractor parts, wine making supplies, and phone books, back into the 1970s. Definite hoarder material!

And the stench....oh my word, the stench. You see, the former owner allowed his dog in the room, and his dog apparently chose the carpet as a potty area, and I don't think it was really ever cleaned. When I finally got all the stuff off the floor and shelves, I ripped out the ugly brown carpet. It was (a couple of months after the dog in question had moved out) still very damp, and the underside was so severely stained with yellow, it was like a bad art project. Utterly disgusting. After the carpet was removed, and the stinking, moldy, horrible underlay, the room began to smell much better, but there it sat....waiting for the next phase...which was removing the filthy, stained floor tiles underneath the disgusting carpet and underlay.

They were so filthy that the dirt was literally ground into them. They were nailed through a layer of masonite and into the subfloor. I used a crowbar and removed them all. It took days of really hard work, but then the room finally started to look like something one could use.

After that, I washed all the walls, which were a mess of dust, dirt, and spider webs that might have been old enough to be in a museum somewhere. I also washed the nasty reddish stained baseboards and odd ceiling decor in the same colour, and then began to consider what to do in terms of decorating. One reason this room is a higher priority is that we will be putting bookshelves in there. Between us we have loads and loads of books - boxes upon boxes of them. All these boxes have been sitting around for months now, because there is nowhere to put books. Fixing up the office will allow the books to have their place so that the boxes can be put away, thus giving me more room to do other projects. Yay!

Soooooo, we decided that the reddish baseboard and ceiling decor would have to stay for now, because changing all that would be another big project, and other things were higher priority. Instead, we would paint it a lovely deep hunter green. Since it was a trim colour, I went with a bold dark green that made me think of forests and lush foliage. As you can see, some of the walls have this odd wood horizontal paneling thing going on, only to about chair-rail height.

For the rest of the room, I thought a bright an energetic green would be the ticket. We put up little colour cards and hemmed and hawed for days. Here's where that questionable advice comes in to the picture.

One thing that I heard from a great many people on the blog, on Facebook, and from in-person conversations, was the advice about choosing the colour you want, and then going a shade (or two!) lighter. I'm telling you....if you're anything like me....nod, smile nicely, and slowly back away from that piece of advice. That's MY advice, which will prevent you from having to re-paint with the colour you originally wanted, or something even bolder!

That's all well and good - but how would you know if you are "anything like me" and whether you ought to back away from that advice? Here's a few things about me that you may or may not know. Perhaps they'll help you figure out if that piece of advice is designed for you or not:

1. I am an introvert. No, that does not mean that I'm anti-social. What it does mean in the psychological sense is that I am energized, or "recharged" by being alone, whereas spending time around other people tends to drain my energy. Any number of personality tests and career-aptitude tests I've done over time have shown me to be a classic introvert. It doesn't mean I don't have friends or don't like people - it's just that I need my alone-time to recharge my internal energy battery. Extroverts, on the other hand, actually gain energy from being around other people, and find that being alone can be draining or exhausting for them.

2. Colour in my clothing has a significant influence on my mood. When I was young, my mother would encourage me to lay out my clothes for the next day before I went to bed. I used to find this quite difficult, but didn't quite know why when I was young. As I got older, I realized that the mood I was in the night before wasn't usually the same as my morning mood, and that the clothes I was wearing, notably their colours, either fit my mood, or not. If they didn't fit my mood, I simply wasn't comfortable in them, and I often didn't put on what I'd laid out the night before because it didn't feel right. I have items of clothing that I love, but there are some days I can't wear them because they don't "feel right." That's just me.

3. Room and space colour has a huge influence on my mood. I think this ties in to being an introvert as I outlined in my first point. When I want to feel energized, it is much more difficult to do so in a white or pastel coloured room than in a brightly coloured room. Pale walls remind me of places I'd rather not be when I want to be energized, such as classrooms or hospitals or bland institutional-style buildings. When I was in my teens, my parents allowed me to paint one wall of my room a gorgeous bright green, and I had a diagonal white stripe the full length of the wall, about a foot wide. I loved that look! It was a bit crazy but it made me feel good. I didn't really think about why at the time, but now I know it was the colour and the quirkiness of the stripe.

So, to recap, for me...bright colour induces energy, positive feelings and general happiness. Pale colours and white induce quiet reflection, a more somber mood, and do not energize me. This, in a nutshell, is why I do not recommend the "one/two shades lighter" advice in paint colours. I should have known this, because I've made the mistake before, but darn it all, I listened to the advice again (oops) and now I'm repainting.

For the office in question, I chose a shade of green that was lighter than what I really wanted, by at least one shade. It is a nice green, but it's not even close to what I needed for that room. Frankly, I found it to be insipid and boring - too pale and too weak. I could tell very quickly that it was the wrong choice, and Richard agreed. Too pale. Ugh. (excuse the mess -- there's nowhere to put anything around here, so I just have to move stuff around as I paint. It's annoying, but it's the way it is for now.)

Back to the drawing board, and new little paint colour chips were stuck up on the wall and the hemming and hawing was once again in progress.

Finally, we decided on a lovely, deep and rich caramel colour. I didn't go two, or even one, shade lighter. And here it is...

Not a pale colour, but not a dark and dismal colour either. It's warm and comforting. It's like a sweet, toffee-flavoured hug. I love it. It makes the room feel warm and welcoming. I've only done one wall and bits of another wall so far, but already, I'm happier when I go into that room. Around here, that's a first!

We also had planned on leaving the wood trim around the doors and windows as is, but on closer inspection, the wood trim had a lot of nasty wood-filler repair jobs and other damage and/or icky bits.

We decided to paint it in the dark green trim colour. We also chose a shade called "Toffee Crunch" for the ceiling. I just did a little bit of it to see how it would look, and I like it very much. A couple of coats will be needed all around, but it's really going to be lovely.

So, my advice to you is, choose the colours you like, and go for it! If colour has a strong effect on you, and you are using it to change the feel of a room, don't be shy. Go bold! Go bright! Go colourful! You'll be much happier that you did, and you won't have to paint twice.

I'll do another post when the painting is complete so you can see how it all looks. For now, I'm just reveling in the feeling of having made a choice that feels right.

Shameless Self Promotion

2011-11-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

Since I've been living here in Nova Scotia, I've been spending a lot more time exploring my creative side. I've been doing lots of work on the farm and trying to fix up the house, but I can't do that all the time. Since I'm not working in a corporate setting any more, I set my own hours and goals. It's good in some ways, and pretty tough in other ways. I sure do miss the comfort of a regular pay cheque! (Yes, in Canada it's a cheque, in the USA it's a check. Go figure!)

Anyway, it's time for a wee bit of self promotion on this blog, so here we go....a showcase of a few of my creative efforts from the past couple of months.

All the following can be seen and purchased right HERE in my Etsy "Scotia Spinner" shop! Handmade beats mass-produced any day, if you ask me! Take a look at some of the other wonderful sellers on Etsy too!

First, of course, handspun yarns, and a rainbow of hand-dyed rovings - mostly Coopworth and Corriedale fibre.

Not a spinner or a knitter? How about some felt ornaments for your Yule or Christmas tree? Or a soft felted pouch for a special gift to be tucked inside?

And if you're not into fibre arts, there's always the beadwork! Lately I've been on another bracelet kick, but there are earrings too!

I do take custom orders for beadwork, felted chicken ornaments, handspun yarns, or other fibre art creations, so let me know if you want something special! Happy shopping!

Upcycle: How to turn a desk into a chicken nest box

2011-10-29T15:45:00.000-05:00

As you may recall, the former owner of this place left behind heaps of junk. Amidst the junk, there have been a few useful items. There have also been some items that we have found new uses for (apart from bonfire fuel, that is). This is the story of how I turned a rather uninspiring old desk into a chicken nest box.

The desk in question was in the "office" room of the house, which looked pretty much like this when we moved in. Oh wait, you can barely see it. Yup, that's my point.

Another blog will be coming soon on the office space - I'm in the midst of re-doing it. Once the desk was cleaned off, we determined that it was a very heavy, solid, hardwood desk, not unlike old fashioned teachers' desks. There were 6 drawers, and some of them had pieces of masonite that could be slid into diagonal slots - sort of paper holders within the drawer. In addition, this desk had the interesting feature of having a typewriter on a hidden shelf, which rose up when the top part was lifted. It was sort of nifty, if you wanted a typewriter desk, but we didn't. Additionally, it has a very heavy and thick layer of some kind of shiny varnish on it....like a skating rink for pens. There are bubbles in the varnish too. Not all that nice, really.

Richard figured it would make good firewood. I looked at it for a while, and saw in my mind's eye... a chicken nest box. I convinced him to help me haul it out to the barn, and today, I brought it back to life in a new way!

Here's where I began - I had removed all the drawers and had disassembled the hinge bits that made the typewriter shelf move up (you can see a sort of triangle shape on the far side from where the hinge thing was located.

This was the top piece, which I removed. You can see the handle on the front, which was used to lift it, and that engaged the hidden typewriter shelf.

Here is the typewriter shelf, which had the typewriter bolted to it. It was also removed!

The first thing I did was remove the drawer slides for the top set of 2 drawers. You can see them sitting on top of the desk here. The openings are now larger for the side nest box units.

I also removed matching slide-out shelf bits that were on either side above the top drawer. After that, I put the bottom drawers back in on each side, as seen below.

In the centre portion, which now had the top and typewriter shelf removed, I built a 3-sided surround at the base (the light coloured wood in the picture below) to support the typewriter shelf in its new position. That shelf had a "lip" at the back of about 4 inches, so I left a space between the back piece of the surround and the back of the desk to insert the lip, so that the shelf piece could not move forward or back, but could easily be removed for cleaning.

Here is the re-purposed typewriter shelf in place.

Then, I used one of the old pull-out writing surface boards as a divider on the centre of the shelf, to make it into two nest box areas. I placed two pieces (from the removed drawer slides) on the back wall of the desk to support it.

Then, I made a sliding groove with two other pieces of the former drawer slides to support it on either side. Now the divider stays in place but can be removed for cleaning purposes.

After the divider was in place, I made a support for the front that is also held in place by two small blocks. This piece can also easily be lifted out. I'm hoping it will discourage goats from trying to sleep inside the nest box part. So now you can see the 4 nest box units - one in each drawer, and two in the centre. I also placed some extra support to hold the top in place, but it can be lifted out for cleaning. It's very heavy wood. I knew the goats would jump on it, which is why I wanted the extra support.

One great thing about this is how easy it will be to clean. The two drawers can be pulled out, the shavings dumped, and new shavings put in. The centre section can be cleaned out easily, and the heavy varnishing on the top and on the typewriter shelf (which is the base of the two centre boxes) should mean that chicken poop will easily be brushed off and will not stick. The varnish is sort of like teflon!

I filled each nest box unit with clean shavings. Unfortunately, I left my fake eggs in Iowa on my old farm. I shall have to find some new ones, or sacrifice a few "real" eggs from the store to teach the chickens what this thing is for! I do hope they'll use it.

The flash photography makes it look brighter in this part of the barn than it really is. The area is dark and the nest cubbies are nice and private, so the hens should appreciate that. Sometimes hens choose their own places to lay, but I shall try to encourage them here. Nobody's laying right now, but the 7 we got earlier this year should start soon because they're approaching 5 months of age, and the cuckoo maran should start laying soon I hope, now that she has finished moulting.

I couldn't entice them in to check it out - they were enjoying dust baths in the sun...

...which is just as well because the weather tomorrow is due to be dreadful - snow and/or rain all night and all day tomorrow. Here, one of my Polish hens shakes herself off after a dust bath. The dirt adheres to oils on their feathers and helps keep them clean and free of lice or other parasites.

Hopefully tomorrow's weather will encourage some serious investigation of their new nesting area!

Dog Blog

2011-10-27T17:00:00.001-05:00

Over at the "In a goat's shoes" blog, Tayet has a theme of the week, which is dogs! She featured her lab, and gave the option of naughty dogs as a theme, or just dogs. My dog, Stickley, is very rarely naughty.

I don't often feature him on the blog. He's sort of a background critter, because he never gets into trouble, really. This is a picture of him on the day I took him home. He was quite a beautiful hound! Sorry about the glowing eyes....darned flash cameras!

Stickley is a retired racing greyhound. I got him fresh off the track when he was just about 4 years old, as he was being retired. He was a big winner in his day, and was a very fast dog. His father was a very famous racing greyhound named Molotov, who is in the Greyhound Hall of Fame. Stickley is a large male, even for a greyhound, at nearly 90 pounds. He's a gorgeous red fawn colour, and has a super-mellow personality. He will tolerate just about anything, such as bunny ears!

Once in a while, he does something a bit rascally. Long time readers might remember this post, about him stealing rotten eggs that I had put by the door for garbage. Ewwww....silly dog. He made the whole house stink for several days as a result.

Most of the time, he's pretty content to be in the background. He doesn't even really like to have his picture taken.

He's a very gentle, loving hound. He is also terribly afraid of unfamiliar things. You need to think about the life of a racetrack dog. They only know a few things - kennels, group feedings, routine....and racing. They are raced every third day. When they are retired, they have never seen a few things that most dogs deal with from day one. They've never seen stairs before. They have no idea what a window is, especially glass patio doors, for example. They are generally terrified of stairs and at age 3-4, have no idea how to go up or down stairs of any sort. They bump into windows and glass doors, not realizing that there is glass there. Sometimes, they run full-speed into glass doors and have very bad accidents. Stickley did that a few times with the screen door and completely took it out of its track and sent it flying into the yard.

Greyhounds are sight hounds - they don't think about it....they just chase things that move. Could be a rabbit, a squirrel, a plastic bag blowing in the wind... If you have a retired racer, you have to be very careful not to let them out of a fenced area, because anything that moves might send them running, and you'll never see them again. They're not good at finding their way home. They're not scent hounds....they're sight hounds!

Stickley was born on March 7, 2001, so he's now about 10 and a half years old. He's acquired the classic whitening of the fur around his muzzle and he's a little slower than he used to be. He also has an eye disease that is fairly common in dogs, called pannus. It affects his vision to an extent, and sometimes it seems to mean that he is more timid of unusual things in his field of vision, like he's completely freaked out if the kettle is near his feeding station, up on the counter, because it's not usually there.

Hmmm. Poor dog.

Stickley adores attention, especially from my parents. He lived with them from December of 2010 until I moved to Nova Scotia in April of 2011. Here he is getting some loving from my Dad. He'll put his head on your lap if he thinks it will get him some attention!

I highly recommend the retired racing greyhound as a dog companion. Contrary to common perceptions, they do not require a lot of exercise. They are more of a couch potato dog. They are raced every third day for 1/4 mile, and then they rest for 2 days. They're not endurance dogs. They do need a fenced yard, a soft bed, and a lot of love.

The tragic statistic is how many of these gentle hounds are euthanized every year because they are no longer "valuable" to their owner (i.e. they're not winning races any more), and they're often euthanized at about age 4. Pure-bred, gentle, sweet, mellow dogs, just eliminated because they're not money earners. To the best of my knowledge, it used to be about 30,000+ dogs euthanized annually. Because of greyhound adoption, it's now about 15,000 dogs being euthanized. If you ask me, that's about 15,000 too many.

Deer? Oh dear!

2011-10-25T12:42:00.000-05:00

When is a dear not a deer? Well, when she's a goat, of course! You see, dear reader, it would not be at all good to mistaken for a deer, during deer season, when one is not in fact a deer, but rather, one is a very endearing goat. The problem is, some goats look very much like does. Well, a female goat is actually a doe, but I meant that in some cases, a goat doe can look very much like a deer doe. Oh dear me, this gets so muddled!

Our dairy goat, Caramel, is 25% LaMancha, 25% alpine, 50% Nubian, and 0% deer (although 100% dear, to us!)

However, in deer hunting season, some hunters get over-exuberant about their quarry and will not always take the time to ensure that their target is in fact of the Cervidae family, and not something else. From time to time, one hears horrible stories about various animals being shot by mistake, including horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, and even dogs. I think some people hunt at night or in poor weather when they can't see properly. I simply can't figure out some of those mistakes otherwise. However, Caramel would be an easier mistake. The only thing she's missing, really, are the ears. She has the lovely fawn colour, the tall build, the flagging tail, and definitely the run. She's also a champion fence jumper.

So, I took some bright orange fleece and set to work creating the perfect "I am not a deer" coat for my little Caprine friend.

I might have to tighten the front holding strap a bit - I'll see how it fares over a couple of days.

Since I rarely use the alphabet function on my sewing machine, I thought I'd give it a whirl!

I'm not sure that Caramel is particularly impressed, but she'll be safer this way until deer season has ended and she can quietly regain her dignity.

Gratitude, an Accident, and a Fibre (Fiber, Fybur) Festival

2011-10-15T20:19:00.000-05:00

GRATITUDE!
First and foremost, I want to thank everybody who posted in response to my last blog post, with your good ideas, your sympathy, and your good wishes. It has been a very difficult time for us, and I know that eventually we will overcome the difficulties and find the light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, knowing that my blog community is behind me and wishing me well is really and truly important to me, warming my heart and inspiring my hands to get the job done. I am truly thankful to you.

Your ideas were great! I received many ideas through blog comments and through private emails. Rest assured that we are seriously considering ALL ideas at this time. Your experience and your suggestions are invaluable as we move foward in deciding what to do. The wine business is not completely out the window - we have had much in the way of encouragement to lead us forward. The previous owner did leave behind some books containing recipes, and the equipment is there, so blueberry (or other fruit) wine is not out of the question. Stay tuned as we move forward with our decisions - you never know what you might see!

AN ACCIDENT
It's a farm. Stuff happens. It's pretty much inevitable that there will be accidents. Last weekend was an accident that was worse than most (for me) and was a whole new experience. It all began with days and days of rain. Solid, driving, torrential, miserable rain. I felt really bad for the goats - they hate to be wet, and they didn't want to be outside. I had been collecting vegetation for them, mostly in the form of branches and weeds. I was bringing armfuls of goldenrod and raspberry into the barn, each day of rain. On the 3rd day of solid rain, I went down to the road where the big vegetation "chopper" had been by, and collected a vast amount of branches - aspen, apple, spruce, alder....whatever they cut down.

I was bringing an armload of branches into the barn when it happened. The accident. I was on the 3rd of 3 wooden steps leading into the barn, when suddenly, the entire steps gave way. I was thrown forward against the barn boards that held the steps, where the metal brackets and now-exposed nails eagerly took advantage of my legs. I had a huge gash on my right leg that was bleeding buckets, and a bump on my left leg. I gingerly shoved the branches into the goat area, and retreated into the house to tend my wounds. The bleeding was hard to stop, and I was concerned I'd need stitches.

I called Richard to tell him I might need to go to the hospital and he said he was coming home (he had been on his way to work in Halifax).

He came home and tried to convince me to go to the hospital for stitches. I knew that, bad as the gash was, it wasn't a candidate for sutures. I declined medical help. He went to look at the steps and determined that the nails had pulled right out of the rotting barn boards, taking me with them. He fixed the steps, and came to check on me again, urging me to go to a doctor. The bleeding was easing, but the pain in the left leg where the bump was, was beginning to mount. I still thought I'd be fine, and I decided to lay down for a while. He went back to work. I was vaguely amused by the growing lump on my shin, which was taking on quite significant proportions. I felt like I'd had half a grapefruit implanted under my skin.

A couple of hours later, I got up and tried to go into the studio. Bad idea. I was in the most incredible pain I'd ever felt in my life. Walking on my left leg was felt like somebody stabbing a knife into my leg. I hobbled over to the telephone. In doing so, I could barely take a step with my left leg. I began to cry out, even though nobody was there to hear. I reached for the phone, registering the fact that I was suddenly covered in a cold sweat. I took a few hops on my "good" leg with the gash in it, and then sat at the top of the stairs. I was in agony, my left leg just causing the most incredible pain I'd ever felt in my life. I kept thinking it would stop, but it didn't. I began to feel strange, disconnected and disoriented. I called Richard....I somehow sensed I needed help.

He answered, but I was useless. I could not speak properly. I was shivering so violently that I could not form words, and I was confused and muddled. I remember saying "Hi" repeatedly, because it was all that I could say. I barely remember anything else. What I do remember was being unable to speak or ask for help. I knew in my mind that I needed help, but I was just babbling nonsense and could not even say a normal sentence. He kept asking if I was OK and I remember trying to say "NO" and that I needed help, but the words would not form themselves. Fortunately, even though I didn't realize it, he knew that I had gone into shock. I passed out part way through the phone call, due to the intense pain and the shock. Thank goodness he knew what was happening, and he called 911.

The next thing I remember, there was a policeman and paramedics surrounding me, and I was being asked questions. I was still shivering violently and could not speak properly - it was a cold day and I was laying on the floor of the upstairs without any blankets or anything other than a tank-top and cotton pants. The phone lay beside me, dropped in mid conversation with Richard when I passed out. The paramedics were saying that my leg was probably broken, the swelling was immense. The graze on my left leg had split open due to the swelling and was bleeding. I was unable to stand. They took me down the rickety stairs in a chair of sorts, and transferred me to a gurney. I was taken to the hospital about 30 minutes away for a suspected broken leg and for treatment of shock.

Remarkably, after x-rays and consultation, my leg was not broken. Instead, I had bruising to the bone. It was in fact more painful than a break would have been. The bruising was deep and severe, and the outer layers of the bone had swollen, which caused the incredible pain that made me go into shock and eventually pass out. I had no idea that such a thing could happen. I was sent home with a compression bandage and strict orders to keep the leg elevated, with the compression bandage, and to use ice packs and keep rested. Whew! Not so easy on the farm!

Thank goodness, my dear parents came to the rescue. My mother came to stay for several days to take care of me, despite her own injury not so long ago to her own ankle. We sat together crocheting and commiserating, wearing our ice packs and keeping our legs elevated. What a pair! We went out and chopped branches for the goats, since the rain was unceasing, and slowly I began to heal. Poor Richard had to work and had lots of appointments, so he was away for several days. It was so kind of several of my neighbours to stop by with offers to help, and a wonderful apple pie as well.

Additionally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Richard, for recognizing that I was in shock and for having the foresight to call 911 when he was a 1.5-hour drive away. He was my hero that day, as he so often is, and without him, I would not have received medical attention that I dearly needed in a timely manner.

Now, just over a week later, I am walking much better and the wounds are healing, although the bruises are a very colourful testament to the injury. The swelling has receded considerably, although it is still much worse at night and better in the mornings.

I sincerely hope that I never have an accident of this magnitude, or worse, again.

FIBRE (FIBER, FYBUR) FESTIVAL
I was excited to participate in the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival in Amherst for the past two days. In spite of the injury, I was able to attend and had a brisk business selling my yarns, felted chickens, and scrappy scarves for the past two days. This is an annual festival, but it was the first time I was a vendor.

Fibre (Canadian) or Fiber (American) or Fybur (Goat) is well loved by so many people, and I was delighted to be selling my handspun yarns, my felted creations, and my crocheted scarves, to so many buyers. My mom also helped me out by crocheting some beautiful scarves to feature at my booth - many of which quickly sold. The little felt chicken ornaments that I make were a huge hit and I sold out of nearly my entire stock of my little felted friends. Soon I'll be replenishing my Etsy shop with more chickens! Don't miss out!

A huge thank-you is due to my father who made me the incredible "tree" stand that you see in the above picture, on the left, for me to display my felted chickens. He made it on the lathe, with a gorgeous cherry wood base and a pretty finial on top shaped like a turret on a Russian church. He also made the super PVC rack that held all my handspun yarns - the ideal "blend into the background" rack that didn't take attention away from the yarns themselves. I had so many compliments on my booth set-up, I think he could have a new career in building booth hardware!

Huge, HUGE thank yous to both my parents for being the wonderful parents they are - helping me in my time of need and in supporting my dreams and aspirations. I could not ask for more. They are an inspiration and a gift that I can never begin to repay.

Lies, and the Lying Liar who told them

2011-09-29T15:24:00.001-05:00

Warning - this isn't my usual happy sort of post. Today's post is a bit of a "get it off my chest" post, and also an update to so many of you who have asked about the winery and the blueberries. Ah, the blueberries indeed. Let's go back in history a little bit, so we are all on the same page. You'll remember that I decided to move back to Canada in October....just about a year ago. I had mixed feelings about leaving Iowa, the land that I had grown to love, my friends, my flock, my really good job, and law school, which was nearly finished. All of that, I decided to leave behind, to start a new life back in Canada, my homeland. I was excited to be going "home" and excited to be facing a new challenge - working for myself. I was really excited to be carrying on the tradition of a blueberry wine business that had started nearly 30 years ago. Lowbush blueberries are a native plant in Nova Scotia, and I was going to be growing them and making the most wonderful sweet velvety wines from these delightful little berries.

You may also remember that I visited the property around Christmas, when it was snow covered and cold and icy. I spent time talking to the owner who was quite ill, learning a little bit about the business, the history of it, and what I'd be doing. Richard did much of the leg work on the review and purchase of the property, since he works in real estate, and lived in the area. It was much easier for him to do it. I knew the house was desperately in need of TLC and updating. I knew the farm was somewhat overgrown and would need work, but I was able to see the potential, taking the word of the senior owner, seriously ill, with nothing to lose, as the ultimate truth.

So thus it was, that I came here, with some expectations, based on statements from the owner, including...

* he had promised to teach us how to make the wine as soon as we moved in, which would including how to use all the winery equipment - the bottling, the sanitation, the corking, labeling, the use and cleaning of the fruit press, the wine vats, etc.
* he had promised to give us the recipes for the 12 wines that he made, stating that they would be in the file cabinet in his home office when we moved in
* he had assured us that the 3-point-hitch post hole digger was in great working order
* he had assured us that the brush mower on the property was in great working order
* he had assured us that the electrical system was "ready to go" and simply needed switches added in the upper level of the house
* he had strongly implied that his wife was dead and that he was a lonely widower
* he had assured us that within 2 years, the overgrown fields could be brought back into full blueberry production as he had been using them a mere 2 years before that
* he had assured us that the oil furnace (normal in Nova Scotia) and wood furnace in the basement were in perfect order

It was a private sale. We purchased the farm as a residence, not a business. This was because the interest rates are markedly different for home purchases versus business purchases. This was also because there was some difficulty with my having been out of the country for 9 years...I was treated as a "foreigner," which meant that down payments even on a residence were necessarily much higher than normal. A business purchase would have been out of the question. Accordingly, none of the business aspects were included in the contract, because it would have turned it into a business purchase, which was not advisable for financial reasons. But why on earth would a sweet, elderly man, who was anxious to pass on his legacy and his knowledge, lie about anything to do with the business? We trusted him without question.

So, at the last minute, it turned out that all the paperwork needed to be changed. Why? Because we had put all the paperwork in his name. He informed us that it had to be in his wife's name. Huh? But she's....oh...no, she was not dead. She was very much alive. She had left him in 1997 of her own accord, and had been paying on the property, which was in her name, ever since. Wow. So, all the paperwork was changed. I was uncomfortable, but by then, we were in "full-steam-ahead" mode. Small glitch, we thought. No problem.

Then, suddenly he wanted a paragraph included that allowed him to stay on the property for up to 3 more months, because he was in-and-out of hospital for blood transfusions and other procedures. We sighed a big sigh, and acquiesced. Many things were put on hold. I could have worked for a couple more months, but as it was, I had to live with my dear parents, who were terribly kind about the whole thing and allowed us to inhabit the spare bedroom for 2 months. Finally...it was moving day. We were thrilled to be moving ahead.

Since then, we have been unfortunate enough to have learned the following;

* the former owner refuses to help us learn anything whatsoever about making wine. He will not teach us how to use the equipment or what to do with the existing wine in the vats in the winery. He has stated that his ex-wife is the one with all the information on how to make wine. She left in 1997. He was making wine until 2008. Enough said. Lies, lies, lies.
* the recipes were not in the file cabinet, and he at first kept promising them, and then eventually said that his ex-wife had all the recipes, and we would have to get them from her. She is a lovely person who has come to visit and has tried to reason with him, to no avail. She never had any recipes. She never had anything to do with the wine production. He's just a liar. We don't even know if they ARE written down anywhere - they may have been in his head. Whatever the case...we don't have them.
* the 3-point-hitch post hole digger was bent, and completely unusable. I had sold mine, prior to leaving Iowa, based on the assumption that we had a working one at the property. Big oops, based on a lie.
* the brush mower on the property was rusted beyond use and partially buried underground. We subsequently learned that he had "built" it himself (he used to work as an engineer for Caterpillar) and it had been the subject of a lawsuit, which he lost, because he had not followed through on a contract to build an operational brush mower for the company that hired him to do so. Liar, liar, pants on fire!
* the electrical system was a complete mess and the upstairs level of the house had no power. We've had an electrician spend about 3 weeks on the place until we ran out of money, and it's still not done.
* the overgrown fields that we had on the 66 acres we bought had NEVER been used for blueberry production. He sold the 40 acres of blueberry land before we bought the remaining 66 acres. The land is not even suitable for blueberry production because it is too wet. This was not evident in the winter when we viewed it, and we did not know enough about blueberries to know better. The neighbour who bought the 40 acres might be willing to sell, but that would require us to have some income with which to buy back the actual blueberry land. Now that was a really BIG lie!
* the oil furnace (normal in Nova Scotia) cannot be insured because the tank is metal and we need to have a fiberglass tank installed. The wood furnace does not heat a large portion of the house because the ductwork does not extend there. Sigh. Lies....

This is just the major stuff. I can't even begin to remember all the small details and issues we've had, many of which were embroiled in lies we were told about the property, its value, its potential, or the existing buildings. One example is that none of the barns, in their present condition, were usable, because they were either falling down, full of rotting wood, or otherwise compromised. We don't expect two of them to last the winter.

Everything I left behind was based on the premise that here, I would have a business to run, and a moderate income generated from that business. I would not have left Iowa if that had not been the case. I am not usually a risk-taker, and I certainly would not have taken on this property under the circumstances in which I now find myself. It was a house of cards....lies upon lies that propelled us forward into the purchase, trusting that we had a viable business to run. The Nova Scotia Liquor Commission, which is the government body responsible for the distribution and sale of alcohol in the province, is simply desperate for the product that this winery used to sell. They wanted 500 cases as soon as possible. And here we are, without a single case, because of a lying liar and the lies he told.

Furthermore, we've learned from neighbours over the past few months, that he was renowned for this sort of behaviour. In fact, he's been in several lawsuits over time, and has lost them all. After his losses, he apparently approaches the winning party and tells them it was a "good fight" and congratulates them on their win, but points out with a laugh that they will never see any of their winnings because everything is in his ex-wife's name, and he has no way to meet the judgment imposed upon him. In fact, nobody around here liked him or trusted him, and most people are not all that surprised by what has happened in our dealings with him. It seems to be his "usual" way of operating.

I am not usually a bitter or vengeful person, but this entire situation has made me so angry, so cynical and jaded, so hurt and defeated, that I barely recognize myself some days. It has been the biggest disaster of my life, and hopefully will be the only disaster of this proportion. Richard has to keep his job in the city working for possibly the most immoral and obnoxious boss on the face of the Earth. He commutes over 1.5 hours each way to keep us afloat, because there is no farm winery income. Meanwhile, I am trying to make the house a decent place to live, removing the years of neglect and slowly updating things, but I can only do so much on my own. I am also working furiously at my fibre arts, attempting to build stock for the Nova Scotia Fibre Festival in October, so that I can actually bring some income as well.

Meanwhile, we are taking stock of what we have, our assets on the farm, to see what we can do. We have winery equipment that is likely outdated and inefficient. We do have a large space though, with stainless steel counters and sinks, which might be useful. We have 66 acres of land, including pasture and woodlands. We are trying to consider all possibilities, such as...

growing other types of berries for wine production
using the winery space for other purposes, such as a goat or sheep milking facility and cheese production area
turning the winery space into a fibre production facility, in essence becoming a "mini mill"
installing fences and considering livestock, such as alpaca, angora goats, or other fibre animals
growing specialty crops that have a market in the region
buying blueberries from the local blueberry production facility (we are in the "heart" of blueberry country") and developing our own recipes, and slowly upgrading the winery facility and equipment.

Truly, we are open to any and all ideas at this point. Anything is on the table. We may have lost a few battles and some pride in this process, but we have not lost our personal skills and adaptability. We will survive, and eventually we will thrive, but there is a lot of healing to be done, and a lot of work in the future. We are making arrangements to have an agricultural consultant view the property and help us determine what might work for us. It is bound to be a long and rocky road.

Do you have ideas for us? Thoughts or suggestions on how to move forward? We are all ears! In the meantime, you will find me licking my wounds, trying to stop crying, and trying really hard not to regret all my decisions. One day at a time. So, when you ask how the winery is, I'm sorry to say, it isn't.

Synchronized log pile climbing

2011-09-25T14:10:00.000-05:00

Inigo and Westley are considering entering the Goatolympics in the sport of synchronized log pile climbing. It is one of their favourite hobbies, and they are pretty darned good at it! Here is one of their practice sessions for your viewing enjoyment!

Okay, cue the music, we're ready...

...and up the first log we go, careful with the back foot Westley, out of sync!

Good! Good tail motion! Nice back leg syncing!

Shoot, there's a log out of order here! Who messed with our pile?

Improvising!

And now we are back in sync! Keep it up boys!

Do NOT stop for snacks! Points deduction!

Um....Inigo?

Obstacle!! Not fair! Oh wait, what's this little snack....

Fine, I know, they need practice, but they're getting there!

The Elusive and Mysterious Jungle Sheep of Nova Scotia

2011-09-15T12:38:00.000-05:00

(cue wildlife documentary music...)

Announcer: Today we go in search of a strange and little-understood species in the sheep world. Not just an average stand-around-in-the-pasture sort of sheep. This little creature is incredibly rare and was thought to be extinct until very recently, when it was miraculously spotted on a small farm in Nova Scotia. We join the farm's shepherdess for an interview to learn more. So, tell us, how long have you lived here?

Shepherdess: Well, just a few months really. Before that, the property was rather overgrown and not well cared for. I think its condition made it an attractive home for the jungle sheep.

Announcer: Amazing! You must be thrilled to have this creature living on your farm!

Shepherdess: Indeed I am. I hope they will be happy here!

Announcer: When did you first notice their presence?

Shepherdess: Well, I saw some unusual droppings...

Announcer: Excellent! Have you taken samples for the museums of the world?

Shepherdess: Errr...no. Not yet. Anyway, then I heard some snuffling and saw some flashes of grey or black in the woods.

Announcer: Wow! Can you please replicate the snuffling sound for our viewers?

Shepherdess: Well, um, like this... snorty-snorty-whoosh-whoosh-snort....baaaaaaaa.

Announcer: (enthralled) Imagine that! You've just heard it here folks, the long lost sound of the Nova Scotia Jungle Sheep. Tell us more about the flashes of grey and black!

Shepherdess: I took some photographs, I have them here:

Announcer: Startling! You must have been very afraid.

Shepherdess: Well, not really, they're quite small and innocent. Not at all aggressive. They are a bit shy really. I had to put up some special hidden cameras after that, to get better evidence of their presence. They were always hiding when I wanted to photograph them.

Announcer: Remarkable! Were you worried that the sheep would destroy the cameras, perhaps eating them or viciously shredding them to pieces?

Shepherdess: Definitely not, sheep are very gentle creatures.

Announcer: (with some tone of disappointment) Oh, yes I see. Soooo, did you get any pictures with the hidden cameras?

Shepherdess: Yes, I did! Here, you can see the male of the species hiding within the jungle foliage.

Here he is eating a leaf.

Announcer: Wow, just look at those powerful jaws!

Shepherdess: Errrr....yes, well, here is the female of the species. You can see her lighter fleece colour. She is considering eating some leaves from the shrub I believe.

Announcer: Incredible, she's about to totally destroy that tree! What a shot!

Shepherdess: (rolls eyes) She's only about 35 pounds, quite small really. Very gentle.

Announcer: Do they climb trees?

Shepherdess: No, they lie down under trees, to rest.

Announcer: Stupendous! You've seen them resting then! And do they fight amongst themselves?

Shepherdess: Not at all, they co-exist peacefully together, as you can see here.

Announcer: And there you have it, a rare moment of tranquility in the life of the elusive and wild jungle sheep of Nova Scotia. Next time, join us for our exciting trip to view the incredible and frightening meadow vole of Alaska, with jaws strong enough to snap a woolly mammoth's leg...

(OK, so they're not REALLY the elusive jungle sheep. They are my absolutely adorable new lambs from Hidden Meadow Farm. Both are 3/4 Cotswold and 1/4 Shetland and 100% lovable! I am soooo excited to have started a new flock of sheep here in Nova Scotia, after the sadness of leaving my sheep in Iowa. The Cotswold-Shetland fleeces are oh-so-crimpy and bouncy - they will be superb yarns in future! )

Goats will be goats!

2011-09-11T08:56:00.000-05:00

Despite valiant efforts to contain them, goats cannot always be contained. Miss Lucky Nickel is a very high jumping goat, and she is no match for the average, or even above average, fence. She is therefore very tricky to contain. This means that she often just runs around the property, eating a bit here and there, and generally causing mayhem. She gets in the way of outdoor projects and eats the flowers. Now, she has instructed Inigo and Westley how to get out with her!

One of her more nefarious deeds lately has been her discovery of a beautiful garden bench that my Dad refurbished for us, and which we placed on the front porch. The porch is still under construction, but it was complete enough that we could put the bench out and enjoy sitting on it and taking in the views of the hills and fields around the area. Miss Nickel decided that the bench was also her throne, and she has taken to sitting on it whenever she likes. Particularly in the heat of a sunny day, she will go there to retire in the shade and chew her cud, while contemplating other troublesome things she can do. Lately, she has taken to holding court while sitting in her throne and instructing the other goats to lay at her feet.

Can't you hear her now? "Westley, bring me my crown."
"As you wish, your highness."

Unfortunately, she has decided that the arms of the bench are good for chewing on, probably somewhat absentmindedly. This made me very upset and also upset my Dad, who had put so much work into the bench for us. We did try new methods of keeping Miss Nickel in place, all to no avail. The bench arms will need to be refinished again, but Richard will do that just as soon as we can keep Nickel contained. Either that, or when the colder weather comes, we shall bring the bench inside where she cannot reach it. The intention is to screen in the porch with a low wall around the sides, such that we can sit out there and not be bothered by the swarms of mosquitoes. When we put in the low wall, Miss Nickel's reign on the porch shall end, and the bench will be off limits.

So what do you think - are these two planning a revolt?

Stay tuned for a new blog post soon on some new additions to the farm!

Remembering Marshmallow

2011-09-04T08:03:00.000-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. Very sadly, Miss Marshmallow the sheep passed away recently of injuries sustained in a coyote attack. Although she initially survived the attack and was under veterinary care, she tragically succumbed to her injuries after about a week. She was well tended by the sweet daughters of the family where she went to live, who fed her grass that they picked themselves. She is buried in their garden and will always be fondly remembered by them, and by me, and hopefully many of you readers who remember her story.

It had originally been my intent to bring Marshmallow to Canada with me, along with Lucky Nickel. At the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to bring Kenzie the lamb, whom I felt was more likely to need extra care. As you know, Kenzie didn't survive her required spaying operation to get her across the border. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but I am really internally conflicted over whether I did the right thing. I can't change the outcome and must live with my choices.

Marshmallow was born June 18, 2009. She was one of quadruplets and was abandoned by her mother, so I brought her into the house and raised her as my first bottle baby.

I'd never had to do that before and was unsure about what I should do, but I read a lot of information and did my best, and Marshmallow thrived. She taught me how to bottle feed and diaper a lamb!

She was a little explorer, particularly interested in yarn and spinning fibre!

She liked to sleep under my desk while I was studying.

She also liked to sleep in my bed, when she got old enough to jump up into it!

She liked to sleep on the dog's bed too.

She grew big and strong, until she outgrew her diapers!

Eventually, she moved outside and lived with the other sheep. She was always a bit small - I guess she was considered a bit of a "runt" of the litter, but she got along fine with the other sheep and she became more independent and "sheepy" minded.

I last saw her on a visit to her new farm in March of this year before I left for Canada, where she was happily living in a pasture with the other sheep from my flock and with my former llama Dolly - she was with friends. The coyote problem is widespread in Iowa, and there are no guarantees. Even with the presence of a llama, two lambs were killed and numerous sheep injured. It may be that the llama prevented Marshmallow from being killed at the time, but her injuries were too severe for her to recover.

Sleep well, sweet Marshmallow. May Mother Earth take you softly into her gentle arms and love you as I did, and may you run free in the great pasture.

7 links blog game

2011-08-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

I don't often participate in these blog memes, but this one was a bit different, and an interesting way to review my blog over time. Tayet Silverspoon over at "In a Goat's Shoes" nominated my blog for this little exercise - thank you Tayet! Here's the objective:

Post the links to:

My most beautiful post
My most popular post.
My most controversial post.
My most helpful post.
A post whose success surprised me.
A post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved.
The post I am most proud of.

Goodness me! This was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be at first. I learned something new doing this exercise - I learned about my blog "Stats" tab. I didn't know about all that information hidden in there, but Tayet told me how to find it, and it was really quite interesting.

My Most Beautiful Post
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they say. How am I to decide which is my most beautiful post, when we all have different opinions on what constitutes beauty? None the less, I'm going to say it is this post, because it was all about the beauty surrounding me in my new home, despite the chaos that also surrounded me. It's important to see the beauty through the veil of chaos.

My Most Popular Post
I have posted 295 blog posts. Wow. That seems like quite a lot, although many people have thousands of posts...but I still had a moment of surprise when I realized how many I'd done. Of all those, the post that is the most popular, based on number of views, is "Book Binding and Wire Wrapping." I found this kind of strange because it's really not a post that is representative of the blog's character. So much of the blog is about Lucky Nickel the goat, or my other critters, or even about spinning and fleece and yarn. That book binding post was one I did after taking a class in how to do long stitch book binding, and also a class in wire wrapping. They were during a break from law school and were just one-time events. I haven't done any more book binding although I have done some more wire-wrapped jewelry. Anyway, that post has the most views, at 1,827 views. Wow!

My Most Controversial Post
Controversial? Me? I'm never controversial! Am I? Well, not intentionally. I think, after much consideration, that my most controversial post might be this one: An Unwelcome Guest. That post was about the difficulties I was having with an opossum killing my chickens. I think opossums are cute. Lots of people disagree. I knew that the opossum was killing the birds, but some people felt that opossums are just scavengers, not killers. However, I caught him, red handed (with blood) with a still-warm dead chicken, in the fresh snow, and there were no other footprints. I know he did it. After he was...dispatched...I had no more losses. I dislike having to kill an animal, but I was losing far too many chickens to this one.

My Most Helpful Post
This one was easy - it's my post on how to shear a llama. Incidentally, this is also my second most popular post, with a total of 1,413 page views. I'm surprised it wasn't number one! Anyway, this post has helped quite a few people learn the method I use to shear llamas, and based on their feedback to me via email or on Facebook, I know it has worked for them too. That makes me happy. It's good to know that my blog has been helpful to others. I also noticed that my blog posts on how to give a goat a bath, and how to use diapers on baby lambs and goat kids, were also very popular. That suggests they've been helpful posts for others too!

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me
As I've already mentioned, the post about the book binding and wire wrapping class being my most popular post was very surprising to me. My 4th most popular post also surprised me. It's this one: Duck 1, Duck 2, Duck 3... I'm not sure why it's so popular, but it does have a lot of cute duckling pictures. It's a post about rescuing some ducklings from the Animal Rescue League.

A Post I Feel Didn't Get the Attention it Deserved
Hmmm. Tricky. This took the longest time to choose. I looked back over a lot of posts, and I picked two. One of them is probably a bit selfish. I wrote a poem, once, about a storm. It just kind of came out suddenly as I was sitting there, watching the storm and wondering what to write about. It only had 2 comments. Most people probably don't like reading poetry really, but I thought it was a decent effort. So if you feel like it, you can read it here.

The second post that probably didn't get the attention it deserved is that post about when Cookie the goat first stood up by herself after suffering through about two weeks of infection with deer meningeal worm. Cookie was a sweet mini-Nubian who was suddenly limping one day, and then soon after could no longer stand up. I had to feed her and bathe her constantly and keep her comfortable while we had some testing done, which indicated she had high eosinophil counts in her spinal fluid, leading to the meningeal worm diagnosis. It's really rather rare for a goat to survive deer meningeal worm infection, but Cookie did it. She was laying down for probably about 2 weeks, maybe a bit longer, because her back legs were paralyzed by the infection. She had a permanent limp afterwards, and unfortunately I think that may have led to her early death about a year or so later from unknown causes. However, her experience was a great learning experience for me and could be helpful to other goat owners also. When she first stood up after so long of being down, I was so excited I took a picture and posted about it, but it didn't get any comments. She probably deserved a few!

The Post I Am Most Proud Of
This one was pretty easy for me. This post is the one about the wild rabbit that was killed by the car in front of me, and which I wrapped in a blanket and brought home to bury on my farm, in order to honour its short life. You can read it here, and bring tissues, it's a sad one. I am proud of it because I think most people would have just kept driving, and maybe would not even notice the small rabbit who tried so hard to escape. I noticed, and I wanted to capture the memories and feelings I had, and remind my readers about the fragility of life.

Now I'm supposed to nominate some other bloggers to do this! Hmmm...

1. Isobelle Golightly the Beautiful Goat (she has a lot of posts to choose from!)
2. Flartus, over at Flartopia (she probably has even MORE posts to choose from!)
3. Oh bother. I have to go put the chickens and goats away. Ummm...YOU! Yes you! Reader with a blog! Consider yourself nominated!

My Studio - wait...I have a studio??

2011-08-15T16:01:00.000-05:00

Studio. The very word conjures up images of great works of art....Monet in his "studio," Da Vinci in his "studio," or perhaps Henry Moore in his "studio." Clearly, I cannot possibly have a studio. I am not worthy! When I first called my space by that name, it seemed to sound pretentious. I am not so much an artist....rather a dabbler in the arts....spinning, felting, beading, a bit of sewing and occasionally a bit of drawing. I looked up the word and its etymology, and found it to have come from the Italian for "a room for study."

Studying is something I can certainly say I have done....for years. Kindergarten through twelfth grade makes 13 years of studying, then add in nearly 14 years of university, for a grand total of about 27 years of study. What is studying, then? Is it just learning facts or theories and being able to repeat them or apply them in tests and exams? Does studying go beyond that which we learn in school? Surely it should apply to anything we learn in earnest, whether that subject is a traditional school subject, or whether it's something less traditional and more practical or artistic.

After having come to the conclusion that my space was certainly one for study, and that it was also one in which things happened that one might call art, I decided perhaps it was not too pretentious, and that I was indeed permitted to call my space a studio. It is not, at present, a finished studio. In fact, it's quite far from that. That said, it's the place to which I retreat when I need "down time" from the chaos of working on the other parts of the house. It's a little bit of solace in the run of a day. And now, it needs colour.

I've been spending some time sitting on my chair, just staring at my space. I am one of those people who feels strongly affected by colours in a room. I am not fond of white or off-white walls. They seem cold and uninspiring to me. For others, they can be calming and pleasant, but for me, they are stifling. I need to feel the energy and warmth that colours bring to my world. With that in mind, I've been trying to sort out how to proceed with the decorating of this area I call my studio.

I have two primary spaces that make up this area. One is the spinning and sewing area, and the other shall be the felting, weaving, and "other stuff" area.

This is the spinning area. I love the sloped ceiling and the old hickory beam in the centre of the ceiling. The window has a gorgeous view of the land surrounding me and I face it when I spin. It's a bit chaotic at the moment because we haven't got all our closet space available yet so some extra stuff is being stored here for the time being. On either side of the window, there are "cubby holes" about 3 feet to either side that will hold storage totes or boxes. They also have the sloping ceilings.

This next picture is the wall to the left in the above picture. It has my old desk that my parents bought me from Ikea when I entered Junior High school (grade 7 in Canada), which is now my sewing machine table and table for other crafts such as beading. I also have a good-sized shelving unit which is destined for painting! More on that in a minute.

This is a better view of the wall on the right hand side of the first picture. As you can see, I have fibre storage cubbies for spinning fibre, also destined for painting. You may also note that I seem to need more storage!

To the left of the spinning area (i.e. behind the wall you see in the above picture) is the larger area for felting and weaving and such. As you see below, there is a sink on the left hand wall, which is currently also our bathroom sink since the bathroom has no sink. The end wall at the back has more storage area. That is another hickory post you can see on the left side.

On the wall opposite the sink I have made (perhaps creative?!) use of a baby crib left behind by the previous owner. I was ready to throw it out when it occurred to me that it would hold a lot of fibre and yarn!

The looms I have are set up in this area, ready to be warped for weaving. To the far right you'll see an old Ikea drawer unit that holds all my craft papers, scissors, tape, paper crafts tools, wrapping paper and gift bags, and other such items. The two windows let in a good amount of light and have a nice view out over the barns.

As you can see, though, from all of these pictures, the walls are desperately in need of paint. The wallboard is in place, and taping/mudding has been mostly completed. The floors need to be refinished. The window frames need to be primed because the wood has knots, and then painted. I don't want to paint the hickory beams or post. What I do want, is energy! The colours in this space have to reflect creativity, energy, liveliness, and warmth. I will be painting all the walls, the shelving, the baby crib, and the trim. One colour just won't be enough. So, I've got some ideas...

Those, my friends, are "Claire Colours!" Deep teal greens on the right, chartreuse and lime on the upper left, and deep raspberry/cranberry tones. I've been playing around with these, trying to figure out how I want to proceed with the colour scheme for the studio areas.

These colours really speak to me the most. I love the vibrancy of the greens juxtaposed with the deep, velvety purples. I think this is likely to end up being an overall theme. Since the rooms have so many wall surfaces - little sections of sloping ceiling, small nooks and areas with strange angles, I'd like to combine multiple greens in this family and do different parts of the walls in different greens. I'm thinking I might draw some large purple and green spirals on the walls in strategic places. Spirals exist widely in nature, showing up in diverse places such as seashells and flowers. Triple spirals are also used in Celtic art, sometimes representing the Irish sea deity Manannan, sometimes the Pagan triple goddesses, and sometimes the three realms of sea, land and sky. These images are attractive to me and I'd like to incorporate triple spirals into my studio space.

I also love the deep teals of the ocean, combined with rich blue-red tones. The light pink tones in these colour cards don't work for me, but I'm attracted to the deep, rich, saturated tones.

I need more time to think about how I want this space to look, but it's a very important space for me. I find solace and peacefulness there, and I am anxious to have it finished, but only when I know it will be "right" for me.

I know I have a lot of creative minds who read this blog, so maybe some of you will have ideas or thoughts on how to proceed. I'm open to most ideas at this point! Please don't suggest painting the walls black (or white) because I'm not doing that, but maybe some of you will have ideas I haven't thought about. The main focus points are: energy, vibrancy, life, creativity, imagination, and sheep!

This is MY apple tree!

2011-08-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

With apologies for the photo quality (these were taken through the window), I present to you today's battle over the apple tree! Miss Lucky Nickel is of course, annotating the photographs, with the occasional comment from Inigo, her newest nemesis. Also note that the plastic bags in the pictures are bags of wood ash from the prior occupant, so kindly (??) left for us to clean up. I've already redistributed the contents of about 25 of them, using them to fill uneven spots on the property!

Mmmmmmm...I do love my apple tree! I especially like the apples, but the leaves are really good too. Unfortunately, I have eaten most of the leaves that were easy to reach. Wait a minute....who do you think you are...investigating my apple leaves?

YOU GET DOWN! These are MY apples!

Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was just trying to get this branch within.....HEY!!!

I told you to stay OFF! These are MY apples! Not YOUR apples. Go maaa elsewhere.

Insufferable youth....now....I will just do some yoga stretches as I regain my position.

And up we go....must pull the branch to the correct level....

Oooooh yes, look at all those lovely leaves!

Oh for maaaa-ing out loud! Not you AGAIN! And you're eating MY apple leaves!

GO AWAY!!

(after a few moments of scuffling...)

Hang on a minute....how did you....that's MY spot. You don't stand up there! I do! Get down!

You're asking for it now! You young goats just never listen.

OFF! This is a goat pirate technique - walk the pile! I've had enough of you!

Meanie. Pbbbbtttt!

(a short time later, Miss Nickel retired to the barn)

My turn now, the old hag's gone away!

I can see those leaves. I just have to keep climbing!

Oh wait, how do I keep climbing here...?

I can't quite reach. Oh bother.

Do the yoga thing...to inspire new plans for reaching apples.

HEY! These are MY apples!

I can see we have some bad habits developing here!

The New Goat Dating Game!!!

2011-08-04T15:30:00.001-05:00

And now, for a special blog feature, we have 3 very interesting goat bachelors for all our goat girl readers. These three sexy singles are anxious to meet some goat girls because Lucky Nickel is definitely NOT interested in any of them! That means their warm, woolly hearts are open to you! Now, don't all come visit at once - please make appointments! Let's go now and meet our bachelor boys, shall we?!

Oh, um....boys....can you all wake up now please?! It's time for your blog debut!

We'll give our boys a few minutes to get ready...they have just recently arrived from the Canadian province of New Brunswick and have been brought to the farm in Nova Scotia where they are sharing a barn with Miss Lucky Nickel. Miss Nickel does not appreciate this arrangement, but she will learn to deal with it. They are all full angora goats, 2 white wethers and the black badgerface is intact and will probably be used as a breeding buck someday in the distant future. I think they're ready for their interviews now...

Bachelor Goat #1, what is your name please?
"Hi Ladies, my name is Westley, and I'm an angora goat. I'm 3 months old and I'm totally ready for the goat dating world."

Well Bachelor Goat #2, how about your name?
"Oh, charmed to meet you, girls! My name is Inigo Goatoya, you sheared my father, prepare to.... errr...wait...that's not it. Well anyway, I'm Inigo and I am an angora goat, I think I might be 4 months old, and I'm what they call a "badgerface" because of my beautiful markings and my stunning fybur coat."

And Bachelor #3, please introduce yourself!
"Oh! Um....hi! I'm....um....I'm Fezzik. My new lady calls my Fuzzypeg too. Ummm...I'm very little."

OK, thank you bachelor goats, and maybe bachelor #3, you could speak up a little bit? Now we're going to get into some interesting questions so the lady goats can learn a little more about you. First, tell us about your ideal date with a doe, and we'll start again with bachelor goat #1.

"I think a day of fun in the sun is a nice first date. We'd start in the barnyard with a little snack, go for a nice walk to see some of my favourite grazing and browsing spots, and eat some fresh raspberry canes for lunch. I would like to show my lady goat the best that fine goat dining has to offer here in Nova Scotia."

Bachelor #2, your dream date?

I'm a very active goat. I like to get physical! I'd take my date on a woodpile climbing adventure, and then we'd do some afternoon yoga. Hey....are you lookin' at my spare brain?

MOVING right along....goat bachelor #3?

Goat bachelor #3???

"Oh! Um, me! Right. How about....um. I'm not sure, I haven't been on a date before. I'm only little! Whatever she'd like to do I guess. Maybe the library?"

Bachelor #1, what is your best feature?
"Certainly I have a lovely curly-whirly coat that drives the goat girls wild!"

Not to mention I also have a really nice rear view!

Wow! Beat that, bachelor #2!

"Oh baby, I'm all about the rear view! You know what I mean?!"

I'm also an excellent problem-solver and I can help you with anything you need!

And bachelor #3, what's your best feature?

"My best....welllll....probably my blue eyes, I think."

Well bachelor goats, I'm sure the ladies will love reading all about you. Anything else to say?

Bachelor #1: Well, I'm all about hanging out with the ladies, so I know you'll have a great time on your dates with me.

Bachelor #2: It's all about the beautiful fybur, ladies. I'm your man!

Bachelor #3: "Kisses."

Goat with Barrel

2011-07-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

I am a lucky goat. Do you know why? I have a big huge barrel in my new boudoir! My lady and her beau did a very nice job on making me a good place to stay here at the new farm. It is very comfortable. I have several exciting "features" in my new home.

First, I have excellent grazing and browsing areas. Did you know that there is a difference between grazing and browsing? Sheep are mostly grazers - they eat grass and other stuff at ground level. Goats like to be browsers. That means we eat shrubs and other taller things that sheep might not want to eat because they are too high up. Here I am being a grazing goat. There are lots of yummy weeds in my new yard!

I also have a wonderful log pile that I can climb on. This is very good for my exercise and keeping my girlish figure.

I can also do stretches on the log pile so that I can reach the apples and apple leaves hanging off the tree. That is browsing! Here I am browsing and stretching. Notice how I like to decorate my back with leaves.

Yes, I am a very picturesque goat!

I also do my yoga and ballet moves on the log pile, to keep myself flexible and agile. What an excellent log pile I have - it is making me very happy. Sometimes, little apples fall off the tree and wedge between the logs. I like to eat those. It's a good yoga snack.

Also, there is a pile of smaller cut pieces of wood, which I can jump on, or which I can stare at for my goat meditation sessions. "Be the wood...ommmmmm...." I can also do my own bum scrubbies by rubbing my bum on the logs. I think this is a very well planned log pile.

Inside my special boudoir, I have a barrel! Did you think that it was in case I get thirsty?

Of course not! That is what my water bucket is for!

The barrel is for jumping on, of course! Truly, it is my little stage, where I can do my tap dancing or my speeches or whatever I want to do. I don't need that chair to get up here. I just get up by jumping onto it. I am a very skilled jumping goat. It is a very large barrel. My lady says she doesn't know what they used to use it for, but she has never seen such a big barrel in her life.

Also, my lady and her beau did some tree trimming and of course they gave me all the tree bits because I love to eat leaves. Some of the bits are from the apple tree and there are apples hidden in the leaves and I have to find them. Yummy!!! You can see how much tree I have because it makes me look small, and I am a big goat now!

Also, there is a nice sign on the door that says WC. My lady says that is so I will know that I am supposed to go outside to pee. I think she is nuts. Naturally, WC stands for "Warning! Coyotes!!" This is to remind me that I don't want to go outside at night, but should keep the door closed so I will be safe from the nasty coyotes and bears and other creatures who like to eat goats for supper.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the chair. Like I said, I don't need the chair to get up on the barrel, but sometimes I like to get down using the chair.

It gives me a good viewpoint to survey my tree bits.

Incidentally, in case you would ever forget, I am a Princess Goat, and also a Queen Goat, so it is only befitting that I should show you my proper publicity photograph of me with my crown and my laptop, ready to blog to you about my life. Thanks to help from my fellow goat AngelBaby Shelby for assisting me with my publicity shoot. Love and kisses to all my subjects and fans!

I'm HOME!!! Maaaaaaa! Maaaa! Maaaaaaaaaaaaa! Maaa!

2011-07-23T20:12:00.001-05:00

Hello my dear fans and all my special friends all over the goat world! I am so happy to be able to blog to you again and maaaaa to you about all my news! It is sooooo wonderful to be back with my lady and have my rightful place on the farm. I came to the new farm on Friday! Here I am in the back of the truck just waiting to get out of my special traveling box!

I have to say, I was a little bit confused. I didn't really know where I was and I hadn't seen my lady for a loooong time. I saw her three times since April 13, and mostly for just a few minutes, so at first, I was all mixed up about who was who and where I was. Then my lady maaaaa'd at me and I began to remember things. Then I met Izzy the cat, and I remembered that I used to play with her before in the other place.

But the house was different and I was still confused. I had to investigate. I sniffed out familiar things.

My lady says I am looking very pudgy. I think she forgets that I am actually Rubenesque. I had to check out the computer connections to be sure that I could blog to you all. See how long my horns are now?!

I checked out the new kitchen and pretty much nothing was familiar. The table was different, the floor was different, in fact....it's pretty much a mess. It's nothing like my lady's other kitchen which was very nice. I was really confused by that, but she says it's going to be better soon. There was a package of drill bits on the table. I was hoping for chocolates but no luck...

My lady let me sniff the dog bowls and I had some of the dog's water because I was thirsty. I don't like the dog's food at all. It's yukky.

Anyway, I am glad to be with my lady, but I had a nice time where I was staying temporarily. I was at a place called Hatfield Farm and I was visited by lots of nice people and children. I had my feet trimmed and all sorts of hay and grass to eat and I made friends with other goats and donkeys. The farmer there was kind of frustrated with me because he said he never knew a goat who could jump 6 foot fences before. I am very good at that. He had to build something he called "goat alcatraz" for me. It took extra work and my lady was quite upset that I was trouble for him. The thing is, I prefer to be with people and I liked to get away from the other goats and be with the people, so I just go over the fence.

After checking out the new house, I began to feel very tired with all the excitement.

I just could not keep my eyes open!

So my lady let me rest for a while in the kitchen, because it was hot outside and I was tired and I needed to rest. As you can see, I make an excellent kitchen goat.

Speaking of tired, I am kind of tired now too. Blogging after so long is so exciting that now I have exhausted myself. But, I have so much more to tell you, so stay tuned for my next posting. I will be telling you about my outside explorations here at my new farm!

Love and goatie tail wags to everybody!! xoxoxoxox

A bit of this and that

2011-07-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

This #1
I have apple trees!

I went for a walk a few days ago when it was breezy and cool out (thus, fewer blackflies, deer flies and mosquitoes). I wandered around on my farm a bit, trying to get to know what sorts of trees and plants I had present that I either liked, or didn't like. For example, the Virginia creeper has got to go! I was very pleased to locate at least 6 apple trees, all of which have a good crop of fruit coming. You can enlarge the picture below to see lots of baby apples coming along!

I am guessing they are all quite old, and they have been neglected for quite some time, so a major pruning job will be necessary next year in the early spring before they break dormancy. It will take a few years to get some of them into proper form, but I'm just glad to have them. I hope they might be different varieties - hard to tell at this point, but for example, the one pictured below appears to be different from the first one based on the shape of the fruits.

That #2
The barn that had been earmarked for Lucky Nickel was subsequently found to be unsafe. We determined that the boards were rotting so badly around the base that the entire thing was unstable. Furthermore, one corner was being held up entirely by a large metal cabinet. This led to Plan B, which was to work on another barn area for her. A nice thing about this barn is that it is closer to the house than the one we had originally selected for her.

That work has been continuing and is approaching completion! Here is Richard with his Dad last week - they worked hard on securing both the inside and the outside of the barn.

The plan is that Lucky Nickel will have her grand arrival on Friday evening! I am sooooo excited to have her back! I am sure she will want to do a blog post to tell everybody about her arrival!

This #3
I've been treated to some really lovely skies lately. There have been a number of breathtaking sunsets, glorious views of the moon, and a really impressive rainbow at sunset. I thought I'd share some of the images I've taken lately so that everybody could enjoy the skies I've seen.

Sunset over the big (collapsing) barn.

Another sunset from the front view looking out towards the road.

The beautiful moon over Lucky Nickel's originally earmarked barn, now earmarked for barn boards!

Rainbow at sunset.

That #4
You may remember my trials and tribulations with my "new" kitchen from an earlier post. We had been keeping an eye out for second hand cabinets that might work well for the space in an effort to re-do the kitchen at a low cost. Richard noticed a truckload sale of cabinets at a building supply store that had been purchased for a building project that didn't go forward. They were about 70% off their original cost, so we decided that given their value, we'd go ahead with new cabinets! I am thrilled, to say the least. But it gets better! About a week later, Richard went back to the store to look for something else, and noticed that the price had dropped on the cabinets again! We hadn't even picked up our order yet, so he took the receipt to the customer service desk and as a result, we saved another $586! That money savings allowed us to also choose new flooring for the kitchen at the same time. I am just so excited about having a kitchen that feels like it's "mine" rather than the existing cabinets, which are very shallow and difficult to use, not to mention the fact that they are damaged in places. I'll also be able to get rid of some grungy metal shelving I was having to use for extra storage due to limited counter and cabinet space. It's going to be great! I'll wait for pictures until the project is underway!

This #5
I've been discovering new treasures as I continue working on the house and barns. Recently, this has involved a lot of antique glass bottles, some of which are pretty colours, unusual shapes, or just lovely glass. I've been cleaning them up and working on identifying some of them. I'm hoping to have a display shelf at some point for some of my favourites. Here are some of the interesting ones I've found so far.

This is a lovely dark green bottle known as a case gin bottle, probably from the late 1800s and maybe from Holland.

An early "black glass" ale bottle from the late 1800s.

Some old medicine bottles - one of "diastasic essense of pancreas" (ewwww!) and one from a local drugstore again from the late 1800s.

Stay tuned to hear from Lucky Nickel soon! Maaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Cute Chicks!

2011-07-12T13:48:00.000-05:00

The feathered kind of course!! What did you think I was going to talk about?

While waiting patiently for Lucky Nickel's barn to be fixed up, I determined that there would be plenty of room in that barn for a few chickens. As most of you will know, unless you are new to the blog, I used to have a lot of chickens when I lived in Iowa, but I had to find new homes for them when I left. Many of them went to live with Isobelle Golightly the Beautiful Goat and her friends in New York, after being driven there in the back of my Jetta on the way to Canada. Well traveled chickens! Some stayed in Iowa with other friends who graciously offered them homes, for which I was very thankful. Unfortunately, none of them came over the border because poultry crossing is quite complicated.

I determined it was time for some new feathered friends, since the barn repairs were underway and they would soon have a place to live and nest. Thus, I bought 7 chicks from a local breeder who offered a number of different breeds. The chicks were various ages, so I think some are definitely hens, but there may be a rooster or two also. It's hard to tell at this point!

In any event, meet the new starter flock!

The oldest bird by far is the light Brahma in the centre left. She has been named "Queen Anne" in view of her lovely white plumage, which reminded me of the plant "Queen Anne's Lace." She also seems to be a bit of a caretaker of the others, which reminded me of a dear friend in Iowa who took on some of my flock, and her name is Anne also, so the name is doubly apt.

Here again is Queen Anne in the centre, surrounded by two silver-laced Wyandottes. I believe they are both hens but am not entirely sure! Richard named the one on the left side of the picture "Kiwi," which seemed like a good name that could be retained in the case of a rooster also. The one in the rear is darker overall and yet very similar. In a nod to my botanical side, and my somewhat nerdy side, I named her "Actinidia." She started out as Ozzy (Kiwi being a nod to New Zealand, and Ozzy being a nod to Australia) but I decided people might have the ghastly idea that the chicken was named after Ozzy Osbourne, which couldn't be further from the truth. Thus, Actinidia, which is the Latin genus name for the kiwi plant. So both chicks are named kiwi - one in common name terms, and one in Latin terms.

Moving on, to the right side of the above picture you see two brown hens - and I am quite sure those two are indeed hens, not roosters. They are both the Rhode Island Red breed of chicken. The further one who is trying to hide under Queen Anne is slightly lighter and is named Buttercup, while the one close to the feeder in the front of the picture is named Butternut. Again, a botanical theme, one named after the pretty flower and the other named after the yummy winter squash.

Above are Butternut (L) and Buttercup (R) again, sharing their space with two very indignant looking gold-laced Polish chicks. I have no clue what their gender is, and so far, those two are yet to be named. They are the youngest of the bunch and have not immediately told me their chosen names, so I am giving them time to develop.

As you can see, they certainly have personality to spare!

So there you have it - the new flock, 5 named, 3 certain hens, 2 suspected hens, and 2 unknowns! What fun and frolic. They are in the range of 3 to 5 weeks old, so they have a lot of growing to do before any eggs can be expected, but at least I'm on the way! Hopefully it won't be long before Lucky Nickel will be joining them and everybody will have their space in the barn. Stay tuned for continued progress on their growth and for the names of the last two chicks! Feel free to make suggestions if an interesting (and preferably botanically themed) name strikes you!

Speaking of Cleaning Up...

2011-07-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

Unusual as it might seem, I feel compelled to blog about my shower. This isn't because I need to ensure you that I'm a clean person, but rather because I know my readers seem to enjoy knowing some of the crazy things about this new adventure of mine, and sometimes these things are pretty amusing, even if they are kind of strange things to write about. Today, I'm going to tell you about the old shower, and the new shower.

When we first viewed the farmhouse, there was so much to take in that we didn't really think too deeply about bathrooms. We noted that there was a shower stall upstairs that needed work, but seemed like it would be ideal when finished. This carried over to the second visit also. We didn't see any shower or tub downstairs, but we didn't really register that because there was so much else to see (especially the clutter!) and think about. After we'd visited twice, we thought about the former owner, who had quite bad arthritis and who avoided going upstairs. We also thought about the fact that he appeared to have washed recently. This led us to the conclusion that there must be another shower in the house on the ground level. After inquiring, he assured us that there was indeed another shower on the ground level, and we laughed to ourselves in amazement that we had somehow missed it.

The shower we'd seen upstairs looked like this when we moved in.

It was dusty and grimy, but essentially new. It had accumulated dust over the approximately 10 years since it was installed. Yes, you read that correctly....10 years. Do you notice that it still has the protective plastic wrap on it that new shower surrounds come with? That's because since it was installed, it was never, ever used. Despite that, the tub was lovely and large and deep, and had jets on the sides for bubbles, and we felt that it just needed a little work.

Also, when we moved in, we discovered the downstairs shower. And we were quite distressed. So distressed, in fact, that I did not take a picture of it until Richard had sawed off about 8 inches of drywall, leaving that clean white line on the drywall to the left of the photo. Seriously, you had to be some kind of contortionist to get yourself into the shower in the first place. (note that the shower curtain that you see in the bottom of the tub was actually at the correct height - this was after it was pulled down once the new shower was finished.

Even after you managed to get in there, let me tell you, it was not a pleasant experience. Keep in mind that the former owner had been using this shower for nearly 10 years! All the plumbing is exposed in the hallway downstairs. This shower is not in a bathroom. It is in the hallway to the front door! It used to be a bathroom, but when the renovations began about 12 years ago, which included new stairs to the upper level, this tub and shower were left in place, but the rest of the bathroom was taken out to allow the stairs to be installed. That would have been OK for a temporary solution but....ugh....here's what happened over the years it was used....

Oh, and don't think that removing that length of drywall made it that much easier to get in. No, you have to step over the old heating grate too, which rises over a foot off the round, as seen in the picture below....and yes the floor is really that grimy and I tell you honestly, that is AFTER cleaning it repeatedly. I cannot stress how distressing this was!

When you were actually standing and showering, and facing the shower head, you had a lovely view to your right of deteriorating tile board with some random pencilled calculations in the upper right, along with a view of some plaster and lathe and some wiring.

Meanwhile, to your left you had a view of....the stairs!

And anybody going up the stairs had a lovely view of....you in the shower!

No wonder we're not ready for guests!!! Oh, and try to ignore the rather dreadful stairs themselves. Those will be the subject of a future blog post.

Needless to say, the completion of the upstairs shower became a very clear priority project. So, back to the discussion of that plastic wrap that was still on the shower walls. Usually, that sort of plastic is very easily peeled off, but not when it has sat untouched for years. It took several hours of painstaking work to peel off the plastic in small pieces, and to remove all the layers of dust and grime from the tub. In addition, we realized several things:

a) the tub jets were not yet hooked up to any electricity,

b) the shower leaked at the base of the tap,

c) the water that leaked out travelled around the tub surround and poured onto the (wood) floor,

d) the sloping ceiling presented a significant challenge to installing shower curtains or doors, and

e) we needed a truckload of caulk to seal the entire thing because the gaps were immense.

So, the anticipated "afternoon project" of the new shower turned into a project of several days. Many layers of caulk were installed and smoothed out to fill large gaps. The leaks were identified and sealed. The shower curtain problem was considered at length and a solution was developed. The tub jets being hooked up to the electrical system are a project for another time.

However, we are now very pleased to have a clean, relatively normal shower that can be accessed without requiring a degree in gymnastics.

As you can see, the tub needs to be sealed off and the jets will be hooked up later. However, the caulking is complete, the shower curtain is installed, and there is no risk of being viewed by guests using the stairs! We still have a bit of a problem with water going onto the tub surround and then coming off the ends, but we plan to build up the edges with wood and do some tiling to keep the water contained, where it will naturally evaporate. We think the tub was somewhat poorly planned, and will probably make further changes in future, but for now, having a clean, comfortable place to shower is truly a delight.

Of course, I chose a sort of botanical-themed shower curtain that has bamboo on it. I had to cut the shower curtain short at the bottom because of course the matter of the sloping ceiling meant that the curved curtain rod had to be installed a little lower than normal. However, this is a small price to pay for a "normal" shower. Now we are one step closer to being able to invite guests to the farm. Have any cool or original ideas about how to further improve our shower set-up? Please feel free to share - we're all ears! (clean ears too!)

Beauty in the midst of chaos

2011-07-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

This is my home.

Sometimes I need to stop for a few minutes and remind myself that in the midst of the chaos that is my new house, there is still much beauty in my new home. The house is a work in progress, and will be for years, but the surrounding land, the area I live in, the nature that is all around me - that is my home. For today's blog, instead of showing you more of my chaos, I thought I'd share some beauty that I find nearby. The above photograph is a view taken just down the road from where I live, and it's breathtaking, even on a somewhat grey and hazy day.

Here's what you'd see on the highway as you approached my region. Vast tracts of forest punctuated by blueberry land - that's the "bare" patches you can see. They aren't really bare - just kept mowed down to allow the native lowbush blueberry plants to thrive.

As you enter the Wentworth Valley, you would see signs warning you to keep an eye out for moose, not to mention black bears and maybe a lynx or bobcat, and of course the ubiquitous white-tailed deer.

Then you would see my driveway, a verdant green passage at this time of year.

You would see my house, and perhaps notice that the garden beds are a bit chaotic at the moment, but I've been working quite hard on this one you see below. After I yanked out great swaths of bishop's weed (and that battle won't be over for years either, since that weed is a tough one to eradicate), along with boatloads of mulleins, goldenrod, and other things I didn't want, I was surprised to find two healthy looking daylily plants and a nice hosta. These could not even be seen before I started working on renewing the garden bed. One must search for beauty sometimes! There are lots of other former flower beds that need my attention all around the property.

This view shows you the carpet of buttercup that is presently making a lot of honeybees very happy. You can also see one of two large Viburnum opulus (snowball bush) shrubs which have been covered in blossoms, as well as clouds of Hesperis matronalis (sweet rocket) in lilac and pink, which smell heavenly and also are a bee feasting ground! You can see a lot of the mulleins in the foreground, yet to be removed!

Here's another picture from closer to the porch (shown roughly centrally in the picture above). The porch itself is unfinished, so there isn't much floor to it, but the beams are in place to install the floor, so it's just another job to be done. There is a beautiful magenta coloured rose as you can see in the middle of the picture, with an incredibly strong "old rose" scent that fills the air in the evenings. It desperately needs pruning, but it pours out beautiful blossoms anyway. It bloomed extremely early. I wish I knew what rose it is. It has probably been there for decades.

Another rose has just started to bloom and this is the first blossom I found - a captivating pale pink with heavy fragrance. You can see some of that darned Virginia creeper in the foreground....it will take me decades to get rid of that too!

Here's the view as you turn away from the house to look back towards the driveway. It's a wonder I just don't sit out there and stare all day, but I'd be eaten alive by the bugs right now. The mosquitoes and black flies are very active at the moment.

As I mentioned, the porch isn't complete, but here's the view that the porch will have eventually. Unfortunately, the property has been so poorly tended that a tree has grown up right in front of the porch where the steps need to go. But, time will take care of this too.

So there you have it - some of the beauty that surrounds me on a daily basis. I need to focus on that sometimes, and remember that one must take delight in the journey, perhaps even more than the destination. I brought in some roses to brighten the kitchen, so I'll leave you with those for now. Breathe deeply and take time to enjoy your surroundings!

Our Hero: The Scrap Metal Guy

2011-06-28T19:31:00.000-05:00

When you move to a new rural location, there are certain people you should probably get to know. Local sheep and goat people are important, local volunteer fire fighters are helpful to know, and locals who have lived in the area for a long time can give you reams of useful information. Without a doubt, however, the most important person we have met is our local scrap metal guy. Rob is a big strong guy with a big strong truck, and he's helping move mountains. Mountains of scrap metal, that is.

The barn that I'm working on fixing up for the World's Most Famous Goat (Lucky Nickel, of course), was completely full of (mostly) junk, a large portion of which involved scrap metal. Likewise, surrounding the barn and in the pasture area around it, there was enough scrap metal to build a small battleship...not that I have time, or need, to build battleships.

Here's her barn, from the front, outside!

And here, my friends, is the inside. Well, at least a few days ago this was the inside. Yes, in case you're wondering, that is an old bed frame that for some reason is wired to the back wall.

Rob takes it all. He's even taking those 5 gallon buckets of used motor oil and other fluids (which he pointed out to me make great mouse traps based on the number of dead mice he found in the bottom as he was pouring the buckets into other buckets with lids on them). The barn is slowly getting cleaned out - I still have some work to do on plastics and some other detritus, but overall, it's approaching a condition where Richard can do some work to seal up the windows (which have fallen inwards) and ensure that Miss Nickel will be safe. I have been sorting stuff into piles, and Rob takes it after I sort it. I've nearly got the entire floor cleaned off now.

Rob is taking all the stuff around the barn too, including old, dead tires, windows with rotted frames, plastic barrels, and all manner of other monstrosities for which I have no need, and for which I have no means of simple disposal. It's not as if you can take old pieces of farm machinery that weigh over 1000 pounds and just pop them at the end of your driveway for removal. These things require Rob, and he has been at the farm every day for the last 4 days, except Sunday, and will likely be here for quite a few more days in future.
Here's a few of the outside of the barn (from the back) from when I visited in December of last year, just to give you an idea of what's keeping Rob busy. There's a lot more under the long dead grass that you can't really see in this picture.

Yes, it needs work...

While the barn is important, there are also great heaps of metal and plastic around other areas of the property.

One of these "heaps" was a very dilapidated livestock trailer, mostly rusted out, and absolutely chock full of garbage. I wasn't sure Rob would take it, given its dreadful condition, but sure enough, he hauled it away on his big flat bed truck. Now, I don't have to look at this view every morning. It's too bad I didn't take a closer shot of the trailer - well....why would I want to?

But let's zoom in on this one a bit....here you go....somewhat grainy, but a better idea of what I've been looking at each day.

Anyway, it's gone now, and all the garbage it contained. Also gone were some pieces of machinery that Rob says he believes were forest clearing machinery from the 1950s or so. Huge, heavy, sad hulks of rust, the sort that would take centuries to disappear.

I won't even get started on the future chicken barn.

So, the cleaning and organizing continues, but things are moving forward, and even though I'm quite sure Rob isn't a blog reader so he won't see my gratitude here, I'm definitely going to be thanking him for a long time to come.

Then and Now: Thoughts on being busy (and some before/after pictures!)

2011-06-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

Since I have moved to this new farm, I have been....in a single word....BUSY! It is hard to describe exactly how busy I have been, because it's not the same kind of "busy" that I was when I had my patent agent job in Iowa. That was "brain busy" whereas my current state is "hands busy." Never in my life have I been so "hands busy" as I am now.

My former job could be very stressful and intense at times. I was responsible for a huge biotechnology patent portfolio. I had roughly 700 active patent applications under my direct supervision, some foreign, some domestic. Some of the work I did myself, from the initial discussions with scientists, through drafting a patent application, prosecuting it with the US Patent Office, and eventually achieving an issued patent. Some of the work I supervised through outside legal counsel, both in the US and in a large number of other countries. I used my brain in very different ways. I had to develop legal arguments to counteract patent examiners at the US Patent Office. I had to read complex scientific articles and distill them into small nuggets of information, which I could then use to support the patent applications for which I had responsibility. I had a lot of daily meetings with scientists and business people. I was busy, each and every day, but I was intellectually busy.

When I used to come home from my job, I would do a little housework from time to time, but it was gentle in comparison to what I do now. I admit that I am not the world's best housekeeper, but I never let my home descend into utter chaos and disfunctionality. Now, instead of going somewhere else to work every day, I work at home. It is a completely different type of work. I don't really have to think very much about what I need to do, but I am busy, each and every day. I am physically busy. I am mentally stalled.

There is SO MUCH to be done here. I have never cleaned so much in my life. I have never organized so much in my life. I have never had to deal with the extent of chaos that I am presently dealing with. At the same time, I really miss the "thinking" work that I used to do, even though I am just as busy. I'm not quite sure how to manage this conundrum right now - perhaps it will work itself out.

In any event, to demonstrate how (hands) busy I am, here are a couple of "before" pictures of my current kitchen, and a couple of "after" pictures, to show you the progress I've been making. Keep in mind that when I acquired the home, all the previous owner's stuff (as shown in the pictures below) was still in place. Since the owner had some health problems, he was unable to do a lot of the clean-up work, so we agreed to take the house "as-is" and deal with it ourselves.

BEFORE: Note the....ummm...chaos! The rather dreadfully brownish-yellow wallpaper (which was originally a white background as I discovered when removing it) was truly horrid. I determined that it's probably due to a combination of age and smoke. Even though the house does not smell of smoke at all (I am very sensitive to smoke), I have found old, used ashtrays. I think that probably 5-10 years ago, both the former owner and his wife smoked heavily. Also note how you cannot actually SEE the table in the middle of the room, just the stuff that is sitting on it.

BEFORE: This is the view of the kitchen from the other direction. Yes, it really was THAT chaotic. I have never in my life seen a kitchen in such disarray. I was overwhelmed. You can actually see the table in this picture. Well, a little bit of it anyway... I encourage you to note the rather hideous "harvest gold" fridge and dishwasher. Let me also tell you that the dishwasher actually was full of dishes, but had not been run in probably 8-10 years. It was....well...pretty disgusting to empty it out. The shelves were completely full of stuff that didn't belong in the kitchen, but all of which needed to be sorted and categorized, or disposed of!

BEFORE: This was part-way towards my goal, but as you can see, the wallpaper was removed but the harvest gold appliances were still in place. Ugh...

AFTER: The same view, essentially, as the first picture I posted, but with the dreadful wallpaper removed, the chaos on the shelves removed, the rather pitiful stove removed, and a new stove and fridge (basic models but very serviceable) in place. Note that in the original picture, you can barely see the woodstove pipe that shows in this picture. It's going to be removed soon, but for now it just sits there. My rolling butcher block shelf unit is between the two appliances, which offers additional surface space for chopping, etc.

AFTER: This is after the harvest gold fridge was removed, and my metal shelves were put in place until we find some replacement cabinets we like. It's not perfect, but it is a long way from where it was. The wallpaper is gone, the chaos is gone, there is a semblance of normality. The dishwasher was removed yesterday. We'll have a new one installed in short order!

So, this gives you an idea of what I've been busy doing. I feel good at the end of each day in some ways, because I can see the difference I've made. At the same time, this is very new to me, and it's taking me a lot of time to adjust from corporate life to this "removal of chaos" life that I have chosen. Stay tuned for progress! This isn't the only room that has gone from chaos to (relative) normality.

We're Back!!! And the tornado that wasn't!

2011-06-24T20:03:00.000-05:00

Guess what?!?! WE HAVE INTERNET!!!!!! Yes, it's true, my lady is back online. She is so excited she could just about fall off her chair. But then she would not be able to type, so it's best that she keep her cool and remain seated. The unfortunate news is that I, Lucky Nickel, goat diva and quite possibly the most famous goat in all of Nova Scotia, am not yet at the farm. This is because my lady says it is very important that I am safe, and the barn is not safe for me yet because the nasty beasts could still get in there. She needs to continue fixing it, and she is very busy fixing a great many things right now. Do you know what....she even has BEARS living near the farm. When she first told me, I thought she said "bares," which might be naked goats! I did not want to see any naked goats! That's rude!!! But then, she said "Oh Lucky Nickel, not bare, BEAR!" She told me about these big scary animals with black fur that would eat a goat for breakfast! Yikes!!! In case you don't know, this is what a BEAR looks like! We found a picture on Wikipedia for you!

All goats should "Beware of Bear" if they are smart goats. So, until my lady fixes the barn, here we have another interesting story for you about tornadoes! Stay tuned for more frequent blog posts now that we are reconnected! There are so many things to tell you about....

As you all know, unless you are new to our blog (in which case, welcome!), my lady and I lived in Iowa for nine years prior to moving here to Nova Scotia. As a result, my lady is very familiar with tornadoes. She hasn’t actually been in one, but they have been close by to her home. She’s used to hearing the warnings on the weather radio, watching the radar on the internet, listening intently for further warnings, watching the clouds, and scurrying down to the basement when she thinks it might be necessary, and also making sure that the rest of the goats and sheep and I were all in the barn. This is really not a big deal for her, since she has been doing it for years, and naturally she still has these things in her head even though Nova Scotia doesn’t get tornadoes. Recently, my lady had a “not a tornado” experience. It was before she had the internet and so this is a little bit in the past, but it is still a good story. I have to tell it to you because she is too embarrassed to do so.

There had been a thunderstorm in the morning and she was busy inside with the everlasting cleaning and organizing of the new farm house. The thunder and lightning had been significant, and at one point, it was so dark that she had to put the candles on in the kitchen because the bulbs in the strange and not-very-illuminating kitchen light had bitten the dust the night before. She says the light fixture came out of the pre-goatian period of history, which was a long time ago, maybe even when there were dinosaurs. Her man friend had gone into the big city and had a shopping list with him, which included new bulbs. These are not ordinary bulbs you know. They are strange tube bulbs that are in a circle shape, so it’s not as if she could just go to the trusty light bulb box and screw in a new one. No, these are weird bulbs. Anyway, she put on the candles and watched the weather and said to herself that it was a good thing that the roof didn’t leak.

Later, the sun came out, and it was quite windy, so my lady decided she was going to go outside and tackle a bit of the thing she says used to be a flower bed, although now it is just a huge overgrown patch of forage. I should be eating it for her, but she says I would eat the flowers too. So far, she says that she has uncovered a nice large hosta, some daylilies, and a C entaurea (which some of you probably call Basket Flower or Bachelor's Button other common names depending on where you live). She was finishing vacuuming some dead fly parts where they had gathered in a window sill, and then she realized that it was raining, but it was only raining on one side of the house. She went to the windows on both sides, but sure enough, only one side had raining happening on it. This was not because of directional rain, such that there were raindrops on only one window. No, no, she’s smarter than that. She noticed that the rain was pinging on the metal roof of the barn on one side of the house, and she went over and looked at the barn roof, which was getting wet. The car, on the other side of the house, was clearly dry. This was quite unusual. In any case, the flower (forage) bed plan was shelved for the time being.

Yet again, the rain (on one side) went away, and the sun came out, and it was windy, so she decided to go out to tackle the flower/forage bed. She put on her gardening clothes and went outside. She was out for a brief period when suddenly everything went very still, and the wind stopped, and that meant that she was positively covered in mosquitoes and black flies. This was a sort of instantaneous effect, based on the weather, which was really irritating. She says she can only garden when it is raining or windy due to the insect pressures. She went back inside the house after about five solid minutes of garden clearing. She went back upstairs to continue vacuuming dead fly parts (not her favourite task, I might add). Of course, it was predictable that the wind would start up again right after my lady came inside. She was quite frustrated by this point, so she sat down with a glass of wine at the kitchen table to rest herself. Then, things got a bit odd with the clouds. The clouds were moving in two directions at once, and sort of looking swirly, and my lady thought about the sudden stillness, and then the sudden wind, and the weirdness of the weather in general, and she said “Oh dear, I think there must be a tornado warning.” She said this because she’s used to being proactive about tornadoes, and when the weather does odd things, it’s a good bet that there’s something brewing. Of course, she didn’t have the internet at that point, so she couldn’t check. She also didn’t have a radio because she hadn’t unpacked the clock radio yet, so she got a bit flustered. She wandered from window to window observing the sky, the increasing wind, and the darkening, and she said to herself “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear….” and she noticed a piece of plastic outside was doing a little swirly dance and she got even more flustered and went around closing all the windows and the screened door and she kept looking for funnel clouds.

In a flash of insight, she said to herself that she would call her parents, who could look on the internet and tell her if Iowa had any tornado warnings. Satisfied with this clever plan, she walked towards the phone. On the verge of picking up the telephone, she had an even bigger flash of insight, realizing that in fact her parents were a mere hour and a half away, because she didn’t live in Iowa, and that furthermore, she lived in a place that didn’t get tornadoes. At this point, she felt quite mortified by the entire tornado business and she sat down again with her glass of wine and tried to console herself that she wasn’t, in fact, losing her mind. She then watched the blustery, but relatively mild, thunderstorm roll through, after which the sun came out, and it was a bit windy, but she abandoned any thought of continuing with garden clearing and simply played a few rounds of solitaire on her computer and heated up a bowl of soup for supper, because everygoat knows that soup is good for humans who have, even briefly, forgotten where they live.

Thanks for sticking with us through our non-internet-connected period. We are so excited to be back, and ready to bring you loads of new exciting stories!!! Love and goat tail-wags to everybody!!!

A very quick post

2011-06-12T12:57:00.001-05:00

This post is just to say....I have not fallen off the edge of the earth! Since May 30, I have been completely and entirely without internet connection of any sort. I was supposed to get hooked up last Tuesday, but when they came to the farm, they found that the cables were from 3 generations of "cable types" ago, and were not suitable for the internet signals. I now have to have new cable installed from the road to my farm because it is over 400 feet to the road, which is too far for the signal to travel. I haven't been given a firm estimate on when these cables will be installed. Subsequently, the house cable guy needs to come back to actually hook the cable from the final pole on my driveway up to the house, and then do the internal wiring stuff, which is another whole day, and they only work in my area on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, all this is to say, I do not have internet and it may be a few weeks before I get it, which is tremendously irritating for me. However, it's life as I know it right now. I shall be back online just as soon as I possibly can. In the meantime, I am just posting this during a quick visit to my parents, where I am borrowing their signal!

Since I won't have access for a bit, if you comment on this post and you don't see your comment showing up, it's because they don't post until I moderate them first, and since I can't get online to moderate, I can't get them to show. I'm not ignoring anybody, really!!

Soon you shall hear about all the adventures and of course all the latest news from Lucky Nickel, goat diva! In the meantime, I don't recommend visiting right now - there are mosquitoes big enough to bring down small aircraft and they seem to think my house and yard are their ideal home.

Hope to be back soon!

It's Really Happening!

2011-05-29T14:32:00.000-05:00

Well, Tuesday is the big day. Finally, after weeks of unexpected delays, actually months now, the big moving day is Tuesday. I keep trying to be happy about it but there is this big part of me that is incredibly stressed out about all the delays and not having my animals around me and feeling helpless about fixing the problems, which makes me just want to say "It's about _______ time!!!" (insert your favourite word in the blank) instead of "Gee, how lovely."

I am very anxious to get going with things. There is so very much to be done. Not least of these things is the emptying of two 10 x 20 foot storage units that are costing me an arm and a leg each month. One will be emptied on Tuesday, and the second one probably the next week. As long as both are empty by June 13, it won't go into a 3rd month of payments.

The farmhouse, as I believe I have explained before, is going to be left with much of the existing furniture and other belongings in place. This is theoretically helpful in some ways, except that it also presents the following issues:
1. The house is in complete disarray after the owner having been ill for so long and having started a myriad of construction or renovation projects that were never finished.
2. Due to the aforementioned disarray, there is virtually nowhere to set down large stacks of boxes, let alone furniture.
3. Much of the belongings that will be left simply need to be disposed of in one way or another. If I'm lucky, I might be able to sell a few items.
4. The previous owner would definitely qualify as a pack-rat....perhaps even a hoarder.
5. In order to make space, many of these left-behind items will need to be moved and/or sorted.
6. Due to the owner's health problems, the upstairs part of the house is mostly just cluttered with building materials and boxes of things like electrical sockets and switch plates, whereas the downstairs part of the house is far more cluttered with a wider variety of "stuff" than upstairs.
So it's really like 2 moves in 1, because I'm going to be moving much of the stuff that's already there, probably compressing it into several rooms for later sorting, and then bringing my things in.

In addition to this, there are some projects that had been started by the previous owner that have not yet been completed. One of these...perhaps the most critical one...is the stairs to the upstairs level. There are no treads. Just risers. One cannot lift heavy boxes and carry them up stairs that are just risers. So, as soon as we arrive, Richard will be tasked with installing temporary stair treads simply so things can be taken upstairs. I will be trying to make as much room as possible in the upstairs so that things can be taken up there easily. Since it is the less cluttered area, it is the easier place to put things, once one can actually get up there without breaking one's neck.

Another problem. Kitchen - avocado green fridge and countertops at the ideal height for individuals in the "3 foot 2" to perhaps "4 foot 6" range. I am 5 foot 10. Need I say more? Oh, I didn't mention the non functioning dishwasher and stove, did I? Ah....minor details.

Of course, everybody's favourite goat needs to be collected from her temporary farm home as soon as possible, which means that a small amount of fencing needs to be put in initially, and a secure night-time sleeping place must be arranged. This comes right after the fixing of the aforementioned stairs.

To add to the conundrums (conundra?), the internet is in question. The previous owner had dial-up. I will have to probably use that for a time. We are looking into other options but I'm not sure how quickly we can have installation done. This means I'll be shutting down the Etsy shops until I've got reliable internet service. It also means that blog posts won't be immediately forthcoming. Rest assured...there WILL be pictures. Lots of pictures and chaos for your viewing pleasure, as soon as I can get them loaded.

Until next time then, wish me luck, and hope for no broken limbs or other injuries. I could do without that!

Hooray for Kezia

2011-05-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to follow up on our last blog. Lucky Nickel and I are so pleased to let everybody know that Kezia has had a successful operation and she is now home with her lady. She has a long road ahead of daily physical therapy and a lot of healing to do, but she's such a young dog, she will certainly pass through it with her incomparable charm and determination.

Here she is! Looking a little the worse for wear, but she'll come through. At least she gets to see the sunshine, unlike us here in Nova Scotia, where grey skies and some form of precipitation have been essentially the only thing I've seen for weeks.

You can see a couple of other pictures here on her lady's blog. Welcome home Kezia!

Thanks so very much to everyone who purchased bracelets and yarn in my fund raiser for her big operation. Remember you can still purchase yarn until the end of the month with the proceeds to support her veterinary costs!

Lending a Helping Hoof

2011-05-16T11:55:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, we need to be kind goats and people, and lend a helping hoof to someone who needs it. We should always be kind goats and people, of course, but there are times that we need to go that extra mile, or kilometre, depending on where you live. Sometimes we need to eat that extra blade of grass, or demolish that extra rose bush. It all depends on your perspective.

For example, the other day when my lady was shopping, I channeled thoughts to her that we should help others. She received my message loud and clear, and now this nice pink decoration is stuck on a wall at the shop with lots of other nice pink decorations. We are helpful, my lady and I. This was to help other ladies who are being hurt by people. That's not very nice. I think I should butt those nasty people.

Sometimes, we need to help somebody we know personally. That's what we're writing about today. You might remember on my grand cross-country journey, I visited our friend in New York, Isobelle Golightly the Beautiful Goat! Well, Isobelle's lady has a sweet wee pup who has a bad thing in her hip. It's going to need an operation called....oh dear, I'm not very good with long words....it's...a female oh-stick-to-me. I think her bone is stuck.

Ohhhh Lucky Nickel, I have to interrupt your post here. We have to tell everybody properly what the problem is. Kezia the puppy has femoral deterioration. That means her femur bone in her leg is sort of crumbling away. How very sad for such a young pup. She needs a very expensive operation called a femoral ostectomy. It's going to cost over $3000 for her lady to have this operation done! Okay, you can keep telling the people now what we are doing for sweet little Kezia.

Right. I shall just say she needs an operation. Like my operation, when I got spayed, but it's much more complicated. The good thing is, once she has her operation, she will be able to run and jump like other puppies and goat kids, and she has a very good chance at a normal life, because she is so young and her body will more easily recover. Isn't that good news?! We are very happy about Kezia having such a lovely lady to take care of her. Here is my lady playing with Kezia on her lap!

My lady said, when she met Kezia, that she was a very special dog. My lady can tell these things. She said that Kezia has a special role to play in this life. She knew it was very important to help Kezia.

So, here is what we are doing! This is so exciting! My lady has two online shops. One is her former online shop for Whispering Acres in Iowa, and one is her new shop for Scotia Spinner in Nova Scotia! Both of her shops have lots of lovely handspun yarns and also some fibre if you want to spin your own! If you read this blog post and put in the 'message to seller' that this is a Kezia purchase, my lady is donating ALL the funds from the sale to Kezia. She will do this for the rest of May. You have two whole weeks to go and purchase anything from either of her shops and all the funds will go to Kezia's operation, AND my lady will cover the shipping costs herself. Here are the addresses for her two shops (she will slowly be closing out the Iowa one over time):

http://www.etsy.com/shop/whisperingacres (this is the Iowa shop)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScotiaSpinner (this is the Nova Scotia shop)

Also, if you don't need yarn but you do need goat coats or wonderful goat soap, go see these other two wonderful blogs who are also helping Kezia!
http://pricillaspeaks.blogspot.com/ (10% of goat soap proceeds to Kezia for May! Hooray!)
http://texan.blogspot.com/2011/05/okay-here-they-are.html (wonderful goatie coats for kid goats!! I want one but I'm too big now!)
(and keep reading on for another way to help!)

Remember to put in the "message to seller" that it's for Kezia. That way my lady will know.

BUT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!! That's not all!!!

My lady has been learning a new art form. She is doing some jewelry work. She has always wanted to do that, but she was much too busy before. Now she is having fun with it, and she has done quite well with making bracelets so far. My lady hasn't got any of her bracelets listed in her shop yet, so she is offering them here, first! You are getting the first view! Aren't you lucky?! Anyway, my lady is offering the bracelets for the Kezia fund raising too! If you buy any of these bracelets in the next two weeks, she will give all the funds to Kezia, and again my lady will cover the shipping.

The single strand bracelets and memory wire bracelets are $15, the 3 strand bracelets (and the green single with all the dangly bits) are $18, and the 5 strand bracelets are $22. If you would like to buy one to help Kezia, please send my lady an email or post in the comments. Our email address is ScotiaSpinner at gmail dot com. We know that you all know how to change the "at" and the "dot" into the proper bits. We don't want our email address picked up by web bots.

Here are my lady's lovely bracelets. Please buy one to help little Kezia! My lady is sorry about the pictures being not very bright. The weather here is dismal for photography. We will try to mark them off as they sell.

SOLD!! This one is 5 strands, with beads made of glass, shell, and dyed Jasper.

SOLD!! This one is 3 strands, with beads made from Amazonite, Aventurine, shell, glass, and metal.

SOLD!! This is a memory wire bracelet with beads made of glass, along with garnet chips and Russian jade cubes, as well as snow obsidian chips.

SOLD!! This is another memory wire bracelet with beads made from glass, along with aventurine chips, Jasper and Carnelian beads.

This is a 5 stranded bracelet with beads made from glass, shell, yellow tiger-eye, and Jasper.

SOLD!! This is a single strand bracelet of glass nuggets and Jasper.

This one is a 3-strand bracelet with glass beads and jade cubes.

This is another 3 strand bracelet with rose quartz, glass and metal beads, as well as green Aventurine beads.

Here's a fun bracelet with lots of dangles on it! This one has glass beads, wire wrapping, and Australian Jasper beads too!

This is a 3 strand bracelet with glass beads and yellow tiger-eye chips.

SOLD!! This is the last one - 5 strands with glass beads, Carnelian, Russian Jade cubes and Mookiate chips.

We do hope you'll like one enough to help out our favourite little pup! Goatie kisses from Isobelle!

Mainely Maine, and then Can of Duck

2011-05-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, finally, my lady is letting me finish the journey blog, because there are lots of other blogs she needs to do (so she says, although I don't see how anyone could possibly be interested in her stuff because my stuff is infinitely more amusing). In fact, this last bit occurred on April 12, but she has been so ridiculously busy since arriving in Can of Duck that I am only getting to do this now. Anyway, last I wrote to you, we had just entered our 9th of 9 states on our journey, which was our last state, and which was Maine. I don't know where the "e" comes from but that's how my lady said they spell it. Why isn't it just Main? Maybe they thought that would be too short. I think my name would be pretty silly if I was Luckye Nickele.

I liked it there because there are a lot of yummy pine trees. I think that's why they call it vacationland, because you can go on a vacation there to eat the pine trees, since they have so many. In fact, my lady began to complain about the scenery a wee bit, because she said it was getting boring...all those trees. She was just anxious to be back in ~~Can of Duck~~ Canada and was tired after 4 days of driving.

Due to the boredom of my lady, and her friendly helper man, there were a couple of rest stops in Maine. Her man was feeling a bit stiff and sore after driving that U-Haul all that long way from Iowa, so he tried doing the exercises in the rest stop area. I thought he looked like a donkey rubbing its bum on the fence, except there was no fence. Don't tell him I said that. I'm supposed to be nice to him.

We kept on driving, and while in Maine, we got to see very pretty views of Mount Katahdin. My lady couldn't get good pictures because she was driving and couldn't look at what her cell phone was pointed at. This is the best one, and the mountain is hidden behind the trees. I wanted to climb the mountain because that is what goats do, but she said not this time. You might like to know that Katahdin sheep are named after it though - they were developed by a man from Maine who imported wool-less sheep from the Caribbean. I'm not sure why there aren't any Katahdin goats. Anybody knows goats are better than sheep.

On the day of our border crossing, we stayed at a hotel called the "White House" and my lady had a discussion with her favorite President before we got on the road. She was quite excited to have her picture taken with him. He didn't say much though!

When we finally got to the border between the USA and Can-of-Duck, that is when I really showed my skills. My lady had to get a lot of stuff she called "paperwork" completed before she could take me across the border. I think I could have just walked across and nobody would have noticed, but because I was in her car, I had to have "paperwork" with me. One day soon, my lady will write a post about how to take a goat or sheep across the border. It might help somebody else.

My personal feeling is that you just have to be your charming self, and try to eat the paperwork, because it makes the inspection vet laugh. Shows you how important that "paperwork" really is! The vet wanted to look at the scar I had from when I was spayed, and also looked at my teeth. I think he was worried that I might bite him, but I have never bitten anybody, at least not intentionally. It doesn't help with making fans happy when you bite people. After the border inspection vet and his assistant looked at my paperwork, petted me, laughed at how charming I was, and signed some VIG documents (very important goat), they had their picture taken with me, because of course I am famous.

After this experience, my lady was finally back in her home country, and I saw her wiping away a few little tears. I'm not sure if she was excited or even more bored with all those pine trees. Anyway, our first Canadian province was New Buns-Wick. I was extremely disappointed that there were no buns to eat when we arrived. I think maybe they put wicks into buns and use them as candles there? I really have no clue. Seems like a pretty weird name to me. I could have done better than that. For example, New Goatswick would have been a better choice.

Now, all through Maine, and then again in New Buns-Wick, we had to worry about large mice. My lady showed me the sign. It looks like this:

As you can see, the mice in this part of the world are very large, with enormous antennae on their head, and they are very tall as well. If you hit one with your car by mistake, the mouse will win. It is dreadfully dangerous to hit a mouse while driving. The mouse is a timid animal and mostly stays in the woods, but in mating season, sometimes the male mouse is seen on the side of the road, snorting and breathing fire. Well, I heard that from another goat, so it's obviously true. I didn't see it happen though.

After a lot of pine trees and not a single mouse sighting, we finally managed to drive all the way through New Buns-Wick and we arrived in our final destination province, Nova Squasha, which made my lady cry a lot and she nearly had to pull over because she was all atwitter. Now, you might be asking yourself, will I be squashed in Nova Squasha? No, of course not, silly! It's an ancient Gaelic term meaning goats. Nova means new. So "New Goats" is where we are living. You can take my word for it.

We drove past the area where my lady is going to have her new home, but right now she can't quite move into it yet. There have been all sorts of delays with the new farm because the seller is not very well and has been in hospital, and there were some misunderstandings with the lawyers, and it has all made her very frustrated, but we won't dwell on that. Here is a picture of the area she will be living on her new farm, with me of course, her first and foremost spokesgoat.

It is very pretty, and it has a lot of pine trees. I shall enjoy eating them. As you can see, I will not run out of pine trees for a very long time. For now, though, I am staying at another farm near my lady's parents home, so that my lady can visit me. It makes my lady very sad that she can't have me there all the time, but she has to be patient, and so do I. For now, everything my lady owns (except me and the cat) is in one of two enormous storage units. It's a little bit upsetting for her and she's not in a very writing sort of mood lately, but she'll be alright soon, and you'll get to hear all her boring human news sooner or later.

In the meantime, you can rest assured that I am a very happy new Canadian goat, and I shall be monitoring the situation here so that you can learn all the news as soon as I can write about it. Goatie kisses to all my fans in the US, ~~Can of Duck~~ Canada, and anywhere else in the world!

The Journey Continued!

2011-04-24T19:44:00.000-05:00

I know you're all just anxious to hear about my continued journey, and I don't want to disappoint, so I thought I should keep going with my stories. Last I left you (before I had to go eat some hay), we were visiting Isobelle and her friends. Here is the entrance to their lovely farm. There is a helpful "critter crossing" sign so that nobody would run me over. Small goats can be dangerous on the road! See the lovely stream?!

My lady had some special things to give to Isobelle's lady. First, she gave her some things called "house plants." I really don't understand the need for plants in her house. If she wants to eat something, she should go outside and nibble on some twigs and leaves and grass. Who needs plants in the house when you can go outside to eat? Anyway, my lady and Isobelle's lady spent a long time looking at my lady's plants. I think my lady was telling her their names.

Or perhaps she was telling her which ones were tastiest? They sure looked happy about it though!

My lady wasn't allowed to take plants over the border to ~~Can of Duck~~ Canada. It doesn't seem to matter that there are plants that grow ON the border and they all share the same dirt. I mean really, those customs officers must be a bit soft in the head. Maybe they've been butted a few too many times?

Speaking of being butted, my lady just went right on into the pasture with Isobelle and her goat friends without worrying about Durin and Dayel. They are two boy goats who are a little bit feisty sometimes, and they like to butt. If you look at Isobelle's blog here, you will see a picture of Dayel trying to butt me through the fence! It was better for me to stay on the other side of the fence. My lady went and fed everybody peppermints, and so did Isobelle's lady. They are very brave, but the goats didn't butt them. Maybe it was because of the peppermints?

Isobelle lives in a place with some sort of scary looking trees. I think I might be a bit worried there at night, in case the kerfoozleumps come out of the trees. Isobelle told me that kerfoozleumps are sometimes seen in her state of New York.

My lady also gave a lot of chickens to Isobelle's lady. I don't know how she managed it, but Isobelle's lady gave all of them names! She is very creative that way. She also has a lot more eggs now than she used to! I think she will be having a lot of omelets! You can see the chickens on Isobelle's blog too, but I'd rather you didn't because there is a picture of my bum in a diaper on there too, and that's rude.

My lady also went to visit with all of the dogs at Isobelle's farm, and she loves all the dogs, but I think she has a special friend in Kezia. Here is my lady snuggling with Kezia, which made me kind of jealous, but then I found out that poor little Kezia has a hip problem, and she is going to need a big scary surgery. It will be sort of like my spaying surgery, but different, and a LOT more expensive. Stay tuned for future blog posts about Kezia and her surgery. My lady will be auctioning off some of her handspun yarn to help raise some pennies for Kezia's surgery! It's going to be exciting!

So we had to keep going, even though we would have liked to stay with Isobelle for a longer time. Our next state is very difficult to say. You have to listen carefully when I tell you. It's Mass of Chew Sits. Now you might say to yourself, what on earth does that mean? I, being a goat of great and broad knowledge, can tell you that. It means that this state was founded by large groups of ruminants (sheep and goats mostly) and there were so many, it was a "mass" of them. Back in the day when we didn't have big words like ruminants, because the humans didn't know about all our digestive parts, they described all ruminants as "chew sits" because that is what we do. A lot. We chew. Then we sit (or lie) down. Chew. Sit. Chew. Sit. Get it? So it was "Mass of Chew Sits" because of all the chewing and sitting goats and sheep. I was honoured to visit such a great state.

While we were there, we had to visit the rest stop, of course, to see what was on offer for the Chew Sits. Here I am checking out the grass (which was a bit short, mind you, perhaps due to other chewers?)

But then, I discovered a new treat! Pine cones! I ate several of them. I did not have those on my previous farm and so these were a very exciting new adventure for me. Crunchy, good flavour, and nice texture. All in all, a great chew experience.

After all that chewing, I was a little thirsty, so we had to get some water. I am pretty good at determining which bottles are full of water, and I make my needs clearly known to my lady, so she has no question in her mind about my level of thirst. I prefer Fiji mineral water. It's good for my horns. Oh, by the way, in this picture, you can see that I am *just* starting to get my beard! I am such a grown up goat now!

After Mass of Chew Sits, we had only 2 states left! Our next state was just a very short drive through, because we only had to go through a small corner of it. The state is called New Hamster.

I'm not sure why this is the name. I didn't see any hamsters at all. Here is a hamster from Wikipedia.

I think it is also a sort of Chew-Sit animal. Perhaps the ruminants went to Mass of Chew Sits and the hamsters didn't have enough food there so they went to New Hamster.

Our last state before Can of Duck was Maine! Here is the bridge to Maine. I'll have to wait and tell you about Maine in my next episode, because I've got to go chew and sit now.

Goatie kisses from Lucky Nickel to all my fans!!

Moments with Number

2011-04-20T13:31:00.000-05:00

As Lucky Nickel has told you already, we went to visit Isobelle and her friends on the long journey from Iowa to Canada. Isobelle lives with other goats and some mini horses, and also a wonderful retired racehorse named Number.

I am particularly fond of Number.

He's very gentle, and I feel drawn to him somehow. Maybe it's because, when I was about 8 or 9 years old, I went to summer horse-riding camp, so he reminds me of my childhood.

Maybe it's because he's a retired racer, just like my greyhound, and I know how much he appreciates the wonderful home he has with Bev and her other four-legged friends.

Or maybe, it's because he brought me some very precious moments of peace and tranquility on a long and stressful journey, which was a rare and special gift.

Thank you Number, for your calming presence and your lovely soft nose. Sending you long distance love!

More Cross-Country Adventures with Lucky Nickel

2011-04-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a goat's age since I was able to post anything. My lady has been so busy with this moving business, it's really quite complicated. I'm glad I didn't have to plan it. Over 5 days, we traveled through 9 states and 2 Canadian provinces! I am an extremely well traveled goat - probably one of the most experienced in this area, anyway.

We started out in Iowa, of course. It was the only state I had ever known, because it's where I was born. This was our last Iowa sunset. It made my lady cry.

I really wasn't to sure about this whole driving thing. I mean, I like being in the car - in fact, I like jumping on top of the car when my lady leaves the sun roof open, and then I get inside and practice driving and popping my head out the window to stick my tongue out at bad drivers. This time, I had to be in a crate! I usually get to run around inside the back of the car, but my lady said it was for my own safety. This meant I could not lay my head on my lady's shoulder while she is driving, which I really like to do.

This is me in my crate. It makes it very difficult for me to keep proper control of things going on around me. How am I supposed to supervise from here?!

Here was the truck we took, with all the things in it that my lady owns. Actually, she got rid of a lot of stuff before we left, but you would never know it. We even needed an extra trailer!

My lady says goodbye to Iowa. You can't tell but she had been crying because she was sad to be leaving so many friends and good times behind, and she loved her farm, but she has new adventures to go to. Saying goodbye is always difficult for humans. I was just excited about it. Goats don't cry.

It wasn't just me in the car! We took 10 chickens with us to our friends Bev and her goat Isobelle. My lady determined that taking the chickens over the border was very complicated because of something called a "core of teens" and my lady doesn't really like teenagers very much. She said the chickens would have had to be with the "core of teens" for 30 days, in a small room, so that they didn't give diseases to anybody. I don't know what the teenagers have to do to stop chickens from giving diseases. These government regulations are very strange. I really don't understand this business at all, but my lady said it was a "pain in the bum" except she didn't say bum, because she was mad about it. So, we had 10 chickens with us and they laid eggs on the way to New York.

Our first state after Iowa was Ill-a-noy. Don't worry, we didn't get ill there. Chick-ago is a big city there, which my lady has visited before, but we didn't go there. We just kept driving. It was night time, so we didn't see much there. We stayed overnight in Ill-a-noy just after we passed Chick-ago because we only left Iowa at around 3:30 pm. My lady took me for night-time walks around the hotel that she stayed in, and I got to taste new shrubs!

The next morning, we got on the road again. after Ill-a-noy came Indy-Anna!

Indy was in a whole bunch of movies in which he wore a hat and looked for treasures and traveled to interesting places. I don't know who Anna was. Anyway, we didn't find Indy or Anna there. It was fairly quick driving through that state.

After Indy-Anna, we went to Oh! Hi-o!

The people there must always be surprised to see you, so they say Oh! Hi-o! when they meet you. Everywhere else, people say the short form which is just "hi" but not in Oh! Hi-o! We stopped at a rest stop there where I talked to lots of people, but that was in my last post so I won't talk about that again.

I forgot to say that Izzy the cat came with us. She was with the male unit, in the truck. The male unit is my lady's friend. Sometimes he took me for walks too! I quite like him. Here is the male unit with the cat in the truck. He smiles a lot.

After Oh! Hi-o! we visited Pencil-Vanilla. I didn't get to eat any pencils there, so I don't know if they taste like vanilla or not. It was a very long state to drive through. Sometimes the roads were very bumpy. We visited a rest stop there, and there were some very unusual chickens at the rest stop on a bench. My lady took a picture of them for me. I wanted to remember those funny looking chickens. We don't usually see these in Iowa.

Our next state was New York! I was very excited to be there because of meeting Isobelle and her lady, Bev. But I'll have to write about that later because I'm a tired goat and I need my beauty sleep. Stay tuned for my next adventure posting soon!

On the move!

2011-04-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

Not a lot of time for a long post today. My lady says we need to get going, and I am ready for my next public appearance. See, I glow like the shining star that I am! I am probably the first goat EVER to ride in the back of a Jetta from Iowa all the way to Nova Scotia Canada.

So far, I have been spotted in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and now in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, I was a big hit with a bus tour of senior humans! They all wanted to pet me and I had my picture taken countless times. Here you can see them all coming over to visit me. I am on the sidewalk, sort of to the left, with my lady. It's a bit hard to see me. Just follow the crowd...

My lady's friend took me for exercise. I think he's still a little confused about what species I am. Oh well, it was the thought that counts. She says he's going to be around a lot so I need to goatucate him (that's goat education) about a few things.

Oh goodness, she is hurrying me along...we really must go....but I will post again soon! Goatie kisses!!!

Three Wishes

2011-03-23T19:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had one of those funny hypothetical discussions with someone, about what one would wish for if one had three wishes. The parameters required no "global wishes" such as world peace and cures for various dreadful diseases, which (hopefully) most of us would wish for if such things were possible. These had to be wishes for oneself. I thought, I pondered, and I imagined. I came up with my first wish fairly quickly. I wished that I could have a long, healthy life, and that I would eventually pass on quite painlessly and without great suffering. To me, that was a reasonable wish, as far as wishes go.

I had to try a bit harder with my second wish. I was initially stumped for a while...but I came up with the wish that at the end of my life, I wish that I will be able to look back without any regret. I want to know that I made the best decisions I could, given the knowledge I had at any given time, and that I never threw away a worthy opportunity. I wanted to feel that I'd lived life to the best of my ability, and that I'd learned from mistakes, rather than becoming bitter or frustrated by them.

So it came to the third wish. I considered carefully....what else could I wish for, specifically for myself, that I really, really wanted? After a while, what I really, really wanted was the ability to come up with a third wish! In all seriousness, I couldn't really come up with one. Sure, I could wish for a million dollars or a fancy car or a fully functioning fibre mill in my backyard. But really....did I really wish for those things? No. Fancy cars are no more useful than my 2002 Jetta. I don't want to be responsible for the upkeep of a fully functional fibre mill. A million dollars would be great for setting up a sheep and goat sanctuary, but that's not "for me" as much as it is for them. Anyway, having too much money brings people out of the woodwork who think they're entitled to some of it, and causes no end of heartache.

This led me to think about my life, and who I am, and brought me to the rather wonderful conclusion that I have all I need, or I have the ability to get what I need. I do not really wish for anything more than what I have. This was a sort of "epiphany" moment for me, because I don't really think very often in abstract terms of wishes that cannot be fulfilled. More than anything, my inability to find a third wish helped me realize that I must be on the right track in life, that I could have the luxury of not really needing a third wish.

I've thought about it several times since the conversation, but I still can't come up with a good third wish. I've toyed with frivolous ideas like a lifetime supply of key lime cheesecake, or aged gouda cheese, or even Bendick's Bittermints (a delicious British chocolate covered mint fondant confection). I thought I was onto something when I decided to wish for a garden that always looked beautiful and took care of itself, but really, that takes away the joy of gardening. The closest I've come so far is a house that cleans itself. I'm not a natural house-cleaner.

So I take it out to you, my blog readers - what are your three wishes, for yourself, and only yourself? What am I forgetting or missing? Or do you, too, find it hard to think of wishes?

...and so I cried

2011-03-20T20:24:00.000-05:00

Last week was a very sad week. Not everyone understands the bonds that can be formed with farm animals. All of them - chickens, sheep, donkeys, goats, llamas and alpacas, horses, cows...and any other barnyard resident - can all become family members. When I knew I was moving to Canada, I knew I could not take my whole "family" with me. I tried to choose wisely and carefully. As you can well imagine, Lucky Nickel was unquestionably one to make the journey. She herself deemed it must happen! When it came to the sheep, I was torn. I wanted to take Marshmallow, who had been my house-lamb, and had spent her early days sleeping on my pillow. She had integrated well into the flock though, and I felt she was well adjusted. On the other hand, I had Kenzie, the little runty black lamb from my former Blue-faced Leicester ewe, Black Pearl. I felt that due to her size, she needed extra care. Her sisters had not had an easy life. One had died in early days, for unknown reasons. The second had gone to a local farm where an unexpected dog attack had ended her short life. I was determined that Kenzie should live, and so I decided to take her with me.

In order to get female ruminants over the border into Canada, they either had to come from a premises that was certified scrapie-free for at least 5 years (which I could not provide, since I had only owned my farm for 3 years and had never sought scrapie certification) or they had to be spayed. I chose to spay Lucky Nickel and Kenzie in order to take them with me and comply with the regulations.

My vet kindly allowed me to observe the spaying operations first hand, which were very interesting for me. I was not at all disturbed by the inside view of my animals - they are marvelous living "machines" with a wonderful physiology that I find fascinating. I was confident after the operations that all had gone well. Due to their long incisions with multiple stitches, I had to keep them in the house for a number of days to prevent any infection. Both of them wore "Depends" undergarments for women (size small!) and t-shirts, with safety pins used to keep the Depends in place and thus keep the wounds covered. The first couple of days, both were very quiet. I put them in my basement unfinished area with lots of blankets, food and water, and frequent visits from me. The fact that my house was still on the market was a complicating factor! I could tell from her stance that Lucky Nickel was in some pain - note her hunched back.

Kenzie seemed fine, and much more perky than Lucky Nickel, even right after the operation.

On Day 3, Lucky Nickel "penetrated the defenses" and made her way upstairs, where she wreaked havoc upon my show-ready home. She upended most of my potted plants and liberally distributed dirt.

She also upended my beading supplies sending a rainbow of coloured glass beads in all directions on carpet and hardwood floors.

She played with toilet paper decoration of the house, scattered some goat berries around, and finally settled in on my bed where she made the covers into a nest and waited for me to come home.

Meanwhile, quiet little Kenzie stayed in the basement, and when I checked on her, I found she had not passed any solid wastes. I worried that she wasn't eating due to pain, and gave her banamine for pain relief and held her in my lap for a time.

On Day 4, Lucky Nickel returned to the barn, still with her t-shirt and Depends, in order to keep clean. She was not easy to contain in the house. Kenzie remained inside, not eating, not pooping. I noticed that she had a lump at the end of her incision. It didn't feel hot or infected, and it was quite firm, so I thought it was just localized swelling from the trauma of the spay.

On Day 5, Lucky Nickel was bouncing around on hay bales as if nothing had happened. Kenzie was quiet, listless, and remained unmotivated to eat. I really began to worry. I called the vet and made an appointment for her. The next day she went in and they thought she was constipated. She spent a day on fluids and milk of magnesia. No effect. The next day, they decided to operate.

Tragically, a loop of bowel had pushed its way through the internal layer of stitches, causing a blockage (and causing the lump that I had felt). Her colon tissue was only just beginning to die, after 5 days, which the vet said was really surprising, and an indicator of how healthy she had been. They removed a portion of her colon, sutured the ends back together, and hoped for the best. The best was not to come. She died that night, in the cold steel kennels that usually hold dogs and cats. Alone and in pain.

I did this to her. I chose to take her with me. I chose to get her spayed. I chose my own selfish desires to take a sheep with me on my long journey, so that I could have the comfort of their company when I arrived, and feel that I had taken part of what I had started here in Iowa. If I had not taken her, she probably would have gone to the same home where her sister went. Her sister was bigger - would Kenzie have been the one to die in the dog attack if she had been there? I cannot say. All I know for sure is that I was trying to make the right decision, and I failed her. This has eaten at me all week. I have had her cremated and will take her ashes with me to the home that she was meant to have. I hope she will forgive me my selfishness. I have cried enough tears to sink a canoe this week, and they're just not stopping.

Lucky Nickel has continued to thrive and is behaving in all her usual ways. She is horrified at the fact that she now has to wear an enormous COW tag in her ear for ID purposes. I have promised her that I can remove it when we are settled in Nova Scotia. She says she is NOT a COW! It makes her ear droopy and uneven with the other one, which is slightly amusing, but I try not to laugh at her.

She has to have her stitches removed soon, and needs to have tuberculosis and brucellosis tests in order to cross the border, but those are simple tests and non-invasive. I am tremendously grateful that she has not suffered any ill effects from the operation to have her spayed. It is also good for her in the sense that I would never want her to be accidentally bred. Her mother died as a result of a pelvic opening that was too small to allow both the head and feet of Lucky Nickel's brother to pass. Chances were good that Lucky Nickel would also have difficulties in birthing kids.

In other news (which is actually good news but is still sad for me), my two angora bunnies went to a wonderful new home at Hedgeapple Farm this week. I bought my first registered Icelandic sheep there, and have spent many good times at my spinning guild with the farm's owners. I know my rabbits are in good hands. In addition, Valentino, the ultimate curly-whirly angora wether found a new home on an alpaca farm, and unexpectedly, Horton, Misky and Larke all went with him. While I am thrilled that my animals have wonderful new homes, it is still hard as they leave, each one taking a little piece of my heart and mind.

Despite all the unhappy news, I did have a huge weight lifted from me this week. I actually sold my farm, and am now just waiting for the inspection and closing. This is incredible, given that it has been on the market just a few days over 3 months, and given the dreadful state of the US housing market. I am in awe. When one is doing the right things in one's life, somehow, the pieces seem to fall into place. I have no other way to explain this turn of events. My mind just keeps saying the same thing over and over...."meant to be." I wish I could say the same for Kenzie.

Val has a Haircut

2011-03-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

Shhhh! It's me, Lucky Nickel! Don't tell my lady that I'm doing this post. She is very sad these days and says she isn't quite ready to write about what happened, but I am OK, so I am writing a quick post for you!

My lady tried to overcome some of her sadness by spending time with us. She looked at Valentino, our curly-whirly angora buck, and I heard her say "Val, you are a disgusting mess. I am going to clean you up." Well, Val had so much curly fybur* around his ears that he didn't hear that comment. Next thing he knew, he was up on the sheep shearing stand, and my lady was standing there with a variety of shearing supplies and a determined look on her face. Here's the result:

Do you see in that picture, above, how Osmo is hiding in the hut? He thinks he might get clipped too, but he's silly, because he doesn't have fybur* so he can't be clipped! Val looks much better without all his heavy, matted, dirty fleece, that got all muddy through the winter. Did you all know that Val is my Dad? He doesn't have his spare brain any more so he can't be a Dad again, so I was lucky to be born, wasn't I!

After she sheared him (mostly using Fiskars hand scissors), he did a lot of scratching with his horns, and little bits of fybur* went floating around.

My lady then noticed that, in contrast to his usual mellow behaviour, he has begun sparring with Osmo and running around more energetically, so she thinks he is feeling much better.

Well, I'm sure you'll hear from my lady soon. In the meantime, you can all just swoon over my Dad.

*Fybur - the proper goat spelling for the fleece that goats grow.....I should know...I'm a goat!

I had a peppermint treat today!

2011-03-05T18:31:00.000-06:00

I know, I said in my last post that I was a deprived goat. Maybe I was having a bad day. Sometimes, good things happen. Like today, for example, a good thing happened! My lady brought me peppermints! She went out for supper last week and she brought home the peppermints for me!

I was laying all by myself, in the middle of the yard, doing my best to look pathetic, in the hopes that she might take pity upon me, and it worked! See, here I am doing my "pity me" look.

Oh wait, it's too far away, I bet you can't see me. Here's a closer look. My lady's pictures are taken through the window pane. They do not show me at my best.

Anyway, I saw her, taking pictures, and I knew there had to be something in it for me...so here I am just starting to get up...

...and coming over to investigate, which of course means that Izzy the cat has to come too. Her name is really Esmeralda but my lady just calls her Izzy. In any case, Izzy is always a blur.

Look!!! A peppermint! For MEEEEE!!!!!

YUMMY!!!!

I was SO excited that I dropped my peppermint on the ground after chewing a piece out of it. Fortunately, my lady picked it up off the ground and gave it back to me. She said it was OK, because it was in the "5 second rule" but I don't know what that means.

I crunched my peppermints well, so that I would have nice fresh goat breath.

Hooray! I love peppermints, and I love my lady too, even if I don't have a goat castle yet.

Thank you for my peppermints!

I am a deprived goat

2011-03-01T18:50:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's true. I know you think that I live a wonderful life here, but now the truth must come out. I am seriously deprived. I think it's time for me to tell the world about the things I need....which I do NOT have.

First and foremost, is this:

I had to borrow this picture from the lovely goats at Sawdust Trail's website. One of my lady's friends sent it to her and she was keeping it a SECRET!!! From ME! I must have one of these. How am I supposed to get my proper exercise requirements without a goat castle? Where is the justice in this, I ask you? It is high time that somebody built me one of these.

Secondly, where is my wine? Yes, you heard me. I am a grown up goat now, and I demand equal rights.

My lady's father told her about this wine, and what does she do? NOTHING! He said it wasn't his favourite wine, but naturally, it is goat wine, so I should have some! Where is the justice here? Am I a forgotten little puff of fybur, left to rot in the corner? What have I done to deserve this sort of neglect?

And another thing! Where is my proper wardrobe?! My lady's friend has a goat that she is borrowing, named Darla, and Darla has a full and extensive wardrobe. In particular, she has jammies with a rabbit on them. She gets to wear her jammies and live in a HOUSE and chew the blinds!!! This is just an OUTRAGE! I should be living in the house, in jammies, chewing blinds.

Please send help. I deserve a proper goat life filled with a castle and wine and pretty outfits. Where is my agent?!

A Sneak Peek!

2011-02-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

This is where the future lies - where I hope to make dreams become reality. There is much work to be done on the road ahead, but I embrace it gladly. Clearly there's some pruning and yard work to be done also! Again, I embrace it, knowing that with each day, I come one step closer to the start of my new adventure. I am waiting for the day that I can walk outside in the morning to see this view, changing through the seasons, and knowing that I am the caretaker of this land. I will do my very best to treat my corner of the Earth with the respect and love it deserves. I am truly blessed by the gentle hand of Mother Nature.

Questions answered

2011-02-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

My impending move has spawned a lot of questions from readers and friends. I thought I'd take a few moments on this lazy Saturday afternoon to answer a few of them. I figured that writing a blog post might improve my mood since this morning I discovered my propane tank was under 5% and I won't have heat for the rest of the weekend. I should have checked sooner but I just didn't realize I was going through it that fast. Oh, bother!! I finally got the woodstove going and now I am just going to keep it going all weekend! So, here are my answers to some of the questions I've been asked...feel free to remind me if I've missed any...

1. What about law school?
Yes, a good question indeed. I was doing very well in law school. I had a GPA of 3.45 or so, and was plugging along nicely, with only about 2 semesters left. So what am I doing about finishing my law degree? The simple answer is, I'm not. Finishing, that is. Lest you throw your arms in the air and call me crazy, let me explain. I already have 3 degrees. This would have been my fourth. It's not as if I'm uneducated. The purpose of going to law school, for the most part, is to become a lawyer. I realized, over time, that my heart was not there. I was not passionate about becoming a lawyer. I was very interested in certain aspects of the law - notably animal law, patent law, and environmental law. I have been working as a patent agent for the past 9 years, which is essentially like being a lawyer but only being able to practice 1 form of law - patent law. Patent agents have to pass a separate exam to be registered to practice before the US Patent Office, and have to have a science or engineering degree. I enjoyed my job in patent law and thought that being an attorney would expand my skills into contracts and licensing and other aspects of the law. I determined that in fact, I did not really want the job that the attorneys in my office had. I did not want their lifestyle. I did not want their stress. I wanted something else from life. It was not a waste of time - I did learn a lot and I have a greater appreciation of the law. I learned new ways of thinking. I also learned that it's OK to walk away from something when your heart isn't in it. It took me a long time to realize that I didn't have to prove anything to anyone, least of all myself, by finishing the degree. Of course I could have done so, if I'd wanted to. I didn't want to. I'm perfectly happy with that decision.

2. I'm confused - are you going to Nova Scotia or are you going to Canada?
Huh? Oh....wait....this is a trick question! No, this was a real question, from several people, even if worded a bit differently. I quickly realized that a small geography lesson would be useful, especially for my non-Canadian readers. Canada is divided up into ten "provinces" and three "territories." These are essentially divisions like the states that make up the United States. Just like the US, Canada extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and is actually the second largest country in the world, second only to Russia. Nova Scotia is one of the ten provinces of Canada. On the map below, it is the bright pink province waaay over on the right hand side. I will be roughly centrally located within the province of Nova Scotia.

3. Why do you want to leave Iowa when it's so cold in Canada?
Actually, numerous parts of Canada are warmer than Iowa, including Nova Scotia. Because Nova Scotia has the constant moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean, it is actually more temperate than Iowa. It never gets as cold in the winter, but it never gets as hot in the summer either. I'm pretty happy with that. I don't like it when it's really hot and humid. Here's a map showing the plant hardiness zones from the USDA. You can see that Iowa is pretty much a 4b to a 5a. I will be in an area that is a 5b to 6a. So, the bottom line is, I'm moving somewhere warmer, even though I'm moving north. Yay!

4. Is it difficult for you to get your animals (especially a goat) across the border into Canada?
YES!!! It has taken quite a bit of effort and research for me to determine how to deal with my animals. The easiest ones are the dog and my barn cat. They just need records to indicate that they are up-to-date on necessary "normal" shots, such as rabies and feline leukemia. The 2 angora rabbits need to go to the vet and have a general certificate of health to say that they have no signs of any communicable diseases. The goat (Lucky Nickel) and sheep (Kenzie) are far more complicated. They both needed to come from a farm that was certified "scrapie free" for 5 years. (If you don't know what scrapie is, read here) Since I had not had the animals or the farm for 5 years, that would not work. I learned that I could be granted an exception if they were female animals who were spayed (or neutered males). Since both Lucky Nickel and Kenzie are female, they both need to be spayed. I have been waiting for the weather to warm up a little before taking them for their operations. They also need to be tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis, but this has to be done within 30 days of transport, so I can't do that yet. Then at the border they will be inspected by the on-site vet and assessed for their paperwork. Llamas are even more complicated, which is why I decided not to take any with me.

5. Are you scared? I would never be able to do what you are doing...
I'm not scared. I'm cautious, but I'm organized, motivated, and careful. I also know that you only live once. I never want to look back with regret. I want to know that I've always lived life to the fullest, as much as I can. I am the kind of person who loves a challenge. I don't like it when life becomes mundane and routine, to a point that it nearly numbs the senses. I love to learn new things, to create new goals, to conquer new obstacles and to reap the rewards. I embrace life, and I want to be in the driver's seat of my life, not in the passenger seat. Sometimes it's good to do something that is full of unknown outcomes. It challenges your creativity, your resourcefulness, and your self-confidence. To that, I say....bring it on!! I would rather live my life by leaping into the unknown from time to time, than by wallowing in my comfort zone. Anybody can do what I'm doing - maybe not in the same way - but anyone can shake things up a little in their own life and make a new road for themselves. It just takes passion, energy, and a little bit of bravery. Go for it!

A Lovely Photograph

2011-02-15T13:44:00.000-06:00

Lucky Nickel wanted everyone to know that the winner of The Nature Conservancy's 5th Annual Digital Photography Contest is (of course) a goat picture. And a very beautiful one it is, too. There are actually a lot of lovely photographs which placed or received honourable mention in the contest, so I encourage you to check out some of the stunning images captured by some very good photographers.

You can also see the winning goat photograph on Flickr at this link.

I didn't put the picture here because it's copyrighted.

In any event, Lucky Nickel would have been rather jealous if I had posted it here. In fact, I'm sure she'd prefer it if I post this reminder picture of what a sweet little baby she was. She's always a winner in my books!

It is a day for basking

2011-02-12T11:07:00.000-06:00

Hello faithful readers! Lucky Nickel reporting from the farm!

See how clever I am, using my ear as a sun shield?! Oh yes, I am not your average goat, my friends. But, you already know that. Today is not an average day either. Why? Because it's actually beginning to feel like spring! My lady came outside this morning and she had to unzip her insulated coveralls because they were too hot! (don't worry, she had clothes on underneath, in case you are wondering) It is 2 degrees Celsius, which is 37 or so in Fahrenheit (but we only do Celsius at Whispering Acres). This is particularly exciting for all of us here, so we took the opportunity to bask in the sun and soak up some rays.

I soaked up some rays.

Misky made a bed for herself on top of the hay bale.

She took some time to get it just right.

Then, she soaked up some rays too.

Coffee (that's Misky's mom, the mini Nubian) was jealous.

However, because she is half Nubian, Coffee didn't know what to do. She's not bright enough to figure out that she should just butt Misky off the bale and lay down there herself. So she just turned her back on her daughter and stood there basking in the sun also.

Opal basked beside the small A-frame shelter.

Lotus basked and ate at the same time.

I ventured into the shade to cool down. Hahaha! Did I fool you? I only went into the shade because my lady put some grain down there for me. In this picture, you can see there is a light breeze, which helps to show off my stunning fybur.

Osmo is a black goat, so he didn't feel a need to bask because he naturally absorbs any sun rays that happen to be found. He was more interested in sniffing Lotus' bottom! My lady said Lotus is "in heat" and I said of course she was because she was standing in the sun and that's where the heat is. Sometimes my lady states the obvious as if it's a revelation.

Then Osmo did that funny thing he does sometimes with his lips, curling his top lip up. He looks weird when he does that. Lotus kept turning her back to him and looking at him and maaaaa-ing, and he looked like he was trying to remember something important, but then he wandered off. My lady laughed and said "There you go Osmo, that's what happens when you lose your spare brain."

Horton basked while trying to figure out how to get over the fence.

And finally Misky got off the hay bale and guess who took it over! Kenzie! Little timid Kenzie got up on the hay bale and basked, as if she was the queen of the castle.

Clearly, the sun has gone to her head. All of us here on the farm hope that you see some sunshine too this weekend!

Sun Dogs in Iowa

2011-02-10T18:49:00.000-06:00

No, they're not a new breed of dog that you haven't heard of! Sun dogs are a weather phenomenon.

They are bright patches of white or coloured light that occur on either side of the sun - sometimes only on one side, and sometimes on both sides. Generally, they're most visible when the sun is low in the sky - either close to sunrise or sunset. In the picture below, the sun is to the left (obviously) and then just to the right of the church steeple, you'll see a kind of rainbow blob. That's a sun dog.

Here in Iowa, it can get pretty cold in the winter. That's when you might see sun dogs. The reason is that sun dogs are caused by ice crystals that drift in the air. The crystals can either be randomly distributed through the air, in which case a ring, or a halo, can be seen around the sun. With sun dogs, the crystals are sinking through the air and becoming vertically aligned, so that the sunlight that passes through the crystals is refracted horizontally. That results in sun dogs! Here's a picture of the right hand sun dog without the sun. I wish the colours were better in these photographs because they really were like vertical stripe rainbows.

This past week was really obnoxiously cold here, and I saw these sun dogs on my way home from work earlier this week. I snapped a few random shots with my cell phone. Believe me, I was not looking at my cell phone at the time. The camera button is on the side and I just held it up in one hand and snapped. I had no idea if I'd get any good shots, but when I got home and checked, I had a few decent ones, so that's what I've shown you here.

I wish I could have taken a shot showing both sun dogs, but I could only get one side at a time. Here's the other side...

As the sun went down, the sun dogs grew more faint.

I like looking at the sky and watching clouds and sunsets. It's not very often that I get to see more unusual phenomena like sun dogs, but when it happens, it's quite exciting. If you live in a warmer climate, you probably never get to see them. I hope you enjoyed seeing them vicariously if that is the case! If you want to see more sun dogs, there are some great pictures online, including this one from Wikipedia, which is actually taken in central Iowa, showing both sundogs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SunDog.jpg

I don't know about where you are...but here...it snowed.

2011-02-02T15:27:00.000-06:00

Maybe it didn't snow at all for you. Maybe you live in the southern hemisphere and you are enjoying your summer holiday. Maybe you live on the equator and are enjoying summer, as you do every day. Or maybe you are somewhere else that is being pummeled by unpleasant weather. I know, it could be much worse. I could be in Australia, about to be hit by a cyclone, having only recently made it through horrendous flooding. So really, I ought not to complain. However, I am going to complain anyway, because I'm having that sort of a day.

I worked from home yesterday because it was a blizzard day. It was the sort of day when I would prefer that my home desk was positioned such that my peripheral vision wasn't constantly barraged by snow swirls that looked like a herd of polar bears passing by my window. (Do bears come in herds or flocks? Or posses?) I made cornbread in the afternoon and ate some with fresh butter and felt like a period of hibernation would be well advised. I retired to bed a little early and lay in the darkness for a time watching the continued polar bear migration past my bedroom window, and wondering what it would all look like in the morning.

This morning, the wind was practically gone, there were no more polar bears, and the view outside the window was a still whiteness, with small ridges on the clean white surface. Some areas of deeper drifting were visible, but overall, it didn't look all that dreadful. I had a coffee, and contemplated the prospect of snow removal and getting to the barn. I then had yogurt, and contemplation on the side. I read my email for work, answered a few, spent some time on a work project, and then thought it might be time to actually feed the critters outside. Considering the fact that by it was nearly 10 am by then, I should have been clued in to the fact that I had not seen or heard any goat or rooster yet. Smart cookies, my animals are!

After donning my insulated coveralls, earmuffs, scarf, hat, insulated gloves and my "tall" boots, I opened the garage and surveyed the ~~polar wasteland~~ driveway before me. Not to be discouraged, I started up the snowblower (thank you for the "easy start" feature, Honda) and dealt with the concrete part of the driveway. The gravel part is not so easy but fortunately my kind neighbour had sent over his truck with a plow blade to help me with that part. I determined, somewhat to my surprise, that the snow was a bit deeper than I had expected. In fact, it was deeper than the height of my snowblower. This made for some interesting "double layer" snowblowing feats that took quite some time, not to mention dexterity, to accomplish. Not to worry though, I looked very stylish doing it, because I am a winter fashionista, of course.

I peered around the side of the house and decided that the walk to the barn looked quite manageable, so I hefted a 50 lb bag of sweet feed from the garage and proceeded to walk down the side of the house. I began to mutter a number of words, none of which have anything to do with "manageable" and most of which I can't even put on this blog because my mother reads it. Stumbling through the snow with a 50 lb bag of feed is never enjoyable, but it's even worse than usual when the snow is deep enough to push the legs of your insulated coveralls up over the top of your boots, such that when you heave your leg out of the snow, a copious amount of it enters your boot in the process. I was less than impressed when Lucky Nickel made her appearance and came dashing through the snow like a legless ball of wool (since the snow was so deep it hid her legs entirely) only to stand in front of my leg each time I tried to take another step with the aforementioned bag of feed. I cannot tell you how long it took me to get to the barn, but it was too long.

Upon recognizing that the food-giver was actually present, the rest of the animals began their usual chorus and I spent the next half hour trudging about with buckets of feed and water and hay bales, occasionally stumbling on hidden blocks of ice under the snow, or other unseen obstacles. It wasn't difficult to determine that the snowblower was needed in the backyard too, so I retrieved it and plowed out nice little paths for myself (and a certain small white goat.)

This was no easy feat either. First, the snow was again too deep for the snowblower, and second, I was on grass, so it was a harder job to push the snowblower. My calf muscles were disgruntled about the entire experience and my knees complained about the incident where I tripped on an unseen chunk of ice and abruptly fell knees-first into the snow, tipped forward, and wallowed about like a beached walrus for a while in an effort to recover. Of course, Lucky Nickel felt that this was an opportune time to jump on my back and try to play "pull-the-hat-off-the-human" before I managed to heave her off.

Fortunately, all the animals seemed to have come through the storm unscathed. Kenzie the lamb is loosing some of her old fleece but new, thicker fleece has come in underneath so I'm not worried about her "patchy" looks at the moment. She is one of Black Pearl's offspring from last June but she still doesn't really look like a full blue-faced Leicester to me, so I don't know what she is.

The donkeys don't seem to give a hoot about the snow. The goats are in fine form and Osmo, despite the fact that his 'spare brain' has now fallen off somewhere, persists in grunting and sticking his tongue out at the girls despite the weather. He even tried to get out to Lucky Nickel today, but she was having none of that.

The angora rabbits are probably the warmest animals on the farm, given their thick coats and unruffled expressions.

After all this, I came inside, showered, and dressed in nice new, clean pajamas and my pink "Snuggle Sack" purchased some years ago from Lands End, a silk scarf, purple fingerless mitts, non-matching socks and slippers, and went back to work at my desk. When one keeps the house at 58 degrees, one must dress appropriately. And as always, it is important to be a winter fashionista. Until next time....stay warm!