Emptying the Garage

I finally got the garage emptied out on Saturday.  It’s been a challenge to kid without the Morton building and then to get everyone shelter with all the rain we’ve had (not complaining about the rain).

Hera and her kids

Floyd, Dolly, Bee, and LilyAnn

Floyd, Dolly, and Bee–Dolly has adopted them, and they have been very good for each other.

I moved a couple more goats out on Thursday (I think).

Cupid and her boys, Sir Elton John and Prince came out on Thursday.

Then the rest came out on Saturday.  I opened the doors between the garage, soap room, milk room, and barnyard. Then I used a bit of sweet feed to get them to come.  Of course, I’d have had all the other girls rushing into the garage, so I shut them up north.

Wishing the gate weren’t shut

While they were eating that little bit of sweet feed, I went and brought their kids out to them.

My last four moms to come out of the garage: Venus, Tansy, Aphrodite, and Zinnia

Venus and her girl, Tootsie Roll

There’s not a lot of grass in that north paddock for that many goats, but I hope it will last them another week or two.

Eating on the north paddock

Rosie with her kids, Rupert and Reba

I am still giving them some hay to help the grass last longer.  And they are also getting some corn.

Enjoying hay

Tansy and Thunder both enjoying a snack in the barn.

The kids are enjoying the log up north.

Zeke and Zane (Ostara’s kids)

Thalia and Ty (Chiffon’s babies)

Soon they will be big enough to put with the rest of the herd and go out on the front part of the Back Forty.

The House Pasture

Well, it’s official. I no longer have a back yard. I have a house pasture.  Saturday, I bribed Skittles back into the small Morton pen with some llama food and put a panel back across, so that’s all she had.

 

Skittles back in the tiny pen.

Then I dismantled the fence I just put up for her.  I turned that into a fence across the back yard.  It went from the fence to the house.  And on the other side of the house to the Morton building.  My dog was a little disappointed, but he’s mostly lazy anyhow.  He’ll survive for a few weeks with just the front and side yard.

Sky wondering why there’s a fence in his way

Before I could let her into the new “pasture”, I had to protect my baby plum tree.  It made it through last summer’s drought and a rabbit attack over the winter, and it’s doing well.  So I put a fence around it as well.

Hard to see how good it looks with all the green in the picture

I also put the pen around the parent tree.

Then I let Skittles in.

I did remember to remove the clothes line.

She might have tried to kick my dog through the fence when he sniffed her.  I have no doubt she would smash him into the ground if they ever got on the same side of the fence.  I’m going to do my best to make sure that never happens.  Because I do rather like my dog.

He decided not to sniff her back leg again.

It makes my yard actually look pretty big when you see how much room it gives her.

I think she’s enjoying it.  The next step was to catch Maybeline when she was up in the barnyard while the main herd was still in pasture.

A Houseplant Update

This is the boring post I keep postponing to give kidding updates.  I really want to be outside working in the herb garden and getting things under control.

I want to put a row of hostas along the north side of the Morton building (Skittles eating her grass. Obviously, that is on hold as long as I have Skittles in this part of the yard.).

I’m not sure I can do much landscaping in the actual herb garden because the ground never froze.  If I were to put in the herb spiral like I want, it would just settle and have to be redone.  But I do have a lot of other work around the patio. And I still need to finish cleaning up where I tried to feed the birds over the winter but couldn’t keep the shepherd’s hooks standing–again because the ground never froze.

Skittles watching to see if I’m going to feed her.

But with the cold and windy weather last weekend, I had to be content to do things inside.

five-inch pots

I had to repot the little pomegranate trees.  I’m hoping they’ll get to start transitioning to outside soon.  They needed a bigger pot to help those roots grow.

Some of them are a bit leggy, and need a bit more support, but most of them look really good.

happily repotted and between a peperomia and a begonia

It makes this area look really crowded, but hopefully, the trees will go out soon.  I keep saying that like I think we should be more normal in our temperatures.

Since this was taken, some Thing mangled my baby pomegranates. They seem to be okay but much shorter.

I might have gained a couple more plants too.

African violet (It isn’t doing well now–sunburn. I’m trying to save it.)

burro’s tail

I know. I know. I have a problem, but they make me happy.

Monstera Peru

another variety of croton

I got one of my have-to-have plants–a Thai Constellation Monstera.  It’s tiny right now, but as it grows, it will get the beautiful fenestrations in its leaves.

And I’ve postponed this post enough times that I can even include my latest acquisition–a prince of orange philodendron.  I have to say, my “have to get” list is getting whittled down.

the leaves sprout in the center a bright orange, and as they mature, they fade to yellow and then change to green.

I also spent time this past weekend working on my lucky bamboo.  The very first plant I bought for my house twenty-five years ago was a set of three lucky bamboo.  Eventually I put them in dirt and I’ve had them ever since.  The one original pot had kitten problems last summer while I was litter training, and I wasn’t sure it was going to make it.  But I’m thrilled to finally see some new growth.

new growth!

I also just chopped a couple of taller than the ceiling stalks that were not looking good.  I put a bunch in water to see if i can get them to root.

I still have an umbrella plant that hasn’t rotted and I’m still trying to root along with the bamboo

Then I repotted the huge healthy root ball with the green stuff that was coming on new at the bottom.

We’ll see how it does.