House concrete work done

The concrete slab has been poured, so now we have a floor and a wall.  Temporary electrical service will be installed by the beginning of next week, so that the work of framing in the house can begin.

We are now down to three goats: an all-white herd, including the two guardian dogs.  Timbuktu went to a new home, and this year's two male kids were harvested this past weekend.  Jeff and a friend (thanks, Patrick!) did the slaughtering and processing.  Raine was a little sad about saying goodbye to Timbuktu, but he expressed some relief as well about not having to watch out for him anymore, re: getting "Timbuked," as Raine put it. There was a time or two when the buck reared up at Raine in warning, when Raine's play with him became too rough.  Raine's thoughts about the slaughter ranged from planning to help the goats escape to wondering when he would be old enough to shoot the gun .  We discussed our process in terms of how we try to minimize any pain and suffering, and Raine sweetly asked for a photo of the two goats so he could remember and keep them with him.

A White Christmas, Twisted Oak-Style

Happy Holidays,
Annie

House Construction Begins!

The pole barn has been completed, and it finally stopped raining long enough to begin concrete work on the house.  The concrete wall on the north side of the house has now been poured and water-proofed.  The concrete wall is 6 feet high, and it will be largely underground, when construction is complete.

Raine was excited about the cement mixer trucks coming

Interior View of Wall

Exterior View of Wall

The next step in construction is to have the plumbing and electrical work done that will go into the concrete slab, which we hope can be poured in the next couple of weeks.  However, we just got about another inch of rain last night, and the forecast is not entirely favorable.

The heavy fall rains did not appear to negatively affect the new fescue pasture we planted, and we will see how the ryegrass planting around the garden and barn areas does, given last night's heavy rain.  In other farm news, we have been busy with the fall harvest (mostly pumpkins, carrots, and beets), planting garlic, and selling some goats.  We decided to downsize our herd, while we focus on the construction, so we've sold our two Spanish does, and we will soon sell the Kiko buck.  We're keeping the three Kiko does, one of whom will hopefully have been bred by the buck, before he goes to a new home.  We're looking into the possibility of using a provider of artificial insemination services to breed the does in the future instead of getting another buck.  It would be nice to not have to manage a buck and to better plan the timing of kidding.  No more surprise kids while we're on vacation!

-Annie