Difficult Weekend

It's been a difficult weekend here. Our two senior goats died which has everyone upset.

Dawn was the matriarch. She was the first one we got and is the basis for more than half of our herd. She had not been in the best of health for a while but still it was shock when she passed way Friday night.

Gamble was the senior buck and the first buck that we got. The original plan had been to have no bucks on site because of their reputation for being smelly and aggressive. When Gamble came to visit to breed some of the ladies he was such a sweetie that when his owner offered to sell him to us we jumped at it. He too had been in poor health off and on the past year. He was with Dawn when she died which appeared to affect him. Coming so close on the heels of Dawn his death this morning was even more of a shock

All in all a tough weekend

Follow-up to the Ice Man Cometh

Here are some pictures from the big ice storm last month.

More pictures will likely be showing over on Rebecca's photo-blog "The View From The Garden"

In further follow-up I finally purchased a new chain saw. I went with a Husqvarna 450 with 20" bar. I looked at Husky, Stihl and Echo chainsaws. All appeared to be very good, but Husky cost a little less for the same or better features and performance. I'd expected to get an Echo chainsaw as they used to have some of the best values in the outdoor power tool market by 10 to 15 percent. Not anymore. Their prices were the same or higher than Stihl who used to be the high price champ. Regardless, look out trees, here I come.

The Ice Man Cometh

We survived the Great Ice Storm of 08. We lost power at 1:07am Friday morning; it returned at 3:15pm Sunday (62 hours). The phone was up the whole time. Cable/internet was down until sometime today (Monday).

Heating was a combination of wood-fired cook-stove and a generator. It got cool (57-59) overnight Friday and Saturday but we got it back up to mid 60's by mid-afternoon.

I got the generator running Friday afternoon, but it was not running smoothly until Saturday due to fuel contamination issues. First item on prep list for next time is to have more gas on hand. Second item on prep list is to finish installation of transfer switch so freezers, a fridge, and some lights can be easily run on the generator.

Not having the generator up and running well until Saturday put us behind in keeping the 3 freezers and 2 refrigerators cold enough. In the end we gave up on the fridges and put the cool items outside. We also gave up on 2 of 3 freezers and moved much of the frozen food outside too. Sunday morning we got the second freezer online. Contents of the third freezer was split between the 2 operating freezers, outside and a friend who got power back on Saturday. In the end we did not lose any food. Next time we need to stay ahead of this. Once a freezer starts warming up getting it back down to temp on a generator is tough. Need to consider replacing upright freezer with chest freezer; more space and better cold retention.

Most meals were cooked on the cook-stove although the menu was limited; I don't think we'll be seeing turkey soup for a while. Third item on prep list is to finish propane-fired grill for added cooking options.

We lost many large tree limbs and some trees. Much clean-up to do in coming weeks. Need to get gas-powered chain saw; the current electric one only goes so far.

How I spent the 4th

Actually most of the week was spent working on a new buck shed for the goats. Here's the progression:

First, I had to move the old 8'x8' shed out of the way by turning it 90 degrees and moving it ~20 feet to it's new temporary location. The skid-steer I rented was very helpful in skidding it around. It came through mostly intact.
Then, I had to build up a platform for the new shed with ~7 yards of stone dust to keep it from flooding out during heavy rains. This is the real reason I rented the skid steer, and what I spent the least amount of time using it for.

Finally came construction, starting with the base built from 4x4 and 1x8 pressure-treated lumber.

And this is how it ended up Sunday evening, framed out but with roofing, sheathing, doors, windows, etc. yet to be done.

Also, I used the skid steer to clean out a section of overgrown brush, and redistribute another 7 yards of crushed base on the driveway.

Of course on the 4th of July I had to do some kind of fireworks. This year it consisted of meeting +100 other people at the Shirley Rod and Gun Club for 4 hours of gun fun.
All in all a very enjoyable week.

Home Life This Week

Not much to post today. #1 Son and I got home safely yesterday from our respective jobs through the snow storm. There were a few idiot drivers, including one who pulled out in front of me in the center of town as a local policeman sat and watched.

I have noticed that the snow plows are running in much tighter formations on the highways. Get behind a squadron and there is no way you're getting past until they decide to pull over and let you pass. This can make travel on the highways very slow; slower than it needs to be.

Wife and children are still recovering from the loss of one of our does. She had a very long hard labor. The vet came and tried to get the first kid out which was stuck with a turned head. She ended up having to do an emergency C-section to save the kids. 3 of 4 kids made it, 2 bucklings and a doeling, but the doe did not. Everyone is doing better today.

So far this kidding season we've ended up with 4 bucklings and 1 doeling. Usually we raise the bucklings for meat and they get appropriate names, but this year 3 of the 4 bucklings are already designated to be sold as pets and have regular names. I do hope the rest of the kidding season goes better than the first 2 does.

Looking forward to Spring.

p.s. The blog broke 2,500 visit yesterday. Whoopee.