Mark the evil parrot, AKA the worst pet in the world. He likes to march back & forth across his cage top, muttering and yiping. Today one of us dared to touch the potato chip bag, which set off an extremely loud shouting spree, until his treat dish was properly filled.
Magnus, showing off his master sleeping skills. No box goes un-filled on his watch.It's been a very busy week here. One of us had a minor surgery which involved a trip to Seattle, having a critter-sitter, lots of house cleaning and shopping, etc. That went well, so spring should have us back in the mad project mode.
We finally retired the 10 year old Dell and got a spiffy new one. Of course that means I am struggling with Vista, plus trying to figure out how to reload all the stuff from the old computer. Craigslist provided us with a nice oak table to put all the electronics on, and it actually matches some of our furniture!
Also, we decided to take a bit of a loss on Ryder and swap him for a Dexter steer. He's going to the breeder who we rented bulls from, and his bloodline will carry on. We were going to steer him for ourselves, but it just didn't seem right to waste all that potential. So Sunday we'll say goodbye to Ryder and hello to a nice red Dexter steer.
The garden still has lettuce, chard, beets, carrots and broccoli, but not for long. Even though I can't seem to find a free moment, it's time to get the beets pickled, chard blanched & frozen, and so on. The lettuce was planted in September and is under a plastic sheet. It sure is nice to go out and pick a salad in November. We also have some chard starts in the greenhouse.
We're hoping to have our 2nd annual Apple-Tree Wassail on December 20th. More info as the time draws near....
5 comments:
Why do you keep cattle rather than smaller livestock? Even Dexters are large compared to sheep and goats.
We just like cattle better, mostly. We've had goats & don't really like their personality, too pushy and needy. Sheep are kind of gross in person, their fleeces get poopy. And they are intense grass-grazers. They eat a pasture down fast, and if we're going to have an intensive grazer, we'd rather have our pony.
We can just barely squeak by having cattle, as long as we manage the grazing and stock winter hay. In return we get one-of-a-kind beef, manure for the garden, large animal experience, and sometimes milk. They also graze things the pony doesn't, which is helping our pasture develop.
And we come from northern European cattle herding people. It's just something instinctive, ancestral.
Sheep are very nice in person! at least ours are ;)
I don't have poopy fleeces, but then I shear twice a year.
It just seemed to me that you were having so many problems with hauling etc.
Looking forward to seeing your place progress!
Thanks for taking an interest!
Hauling is a big pain, but good incentive to get a trailer soon ;-)
We have a certain size in mind, so when we see one at the right price, we'll nab it.
In the meantime, I think we're done with any critter hauling for a while. Thank goodness!
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