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This is life at Knotty Creek Farm.

New Addition to the Farm

New Addition to the Farm
Mom & foal

Farm Life of Yesteryear

Farm Life of Yesteryear
Christine's Grandpa Schnedler's Plow

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Goat Hooves Update

The goats’ hooves are looking a little better. They keep getting manure caked on the bottom of their hoofs’. Strawberry keeps pawing at the ground after I treat her front hoof. I imagine the medicine I am using is getting to a raw spot inside her hoof.

The other goats seem to be okay with it. Well, not when I try to pick up their hoof. I’m glad I only have 4 goats instead of 40. This spring I will start getting ready for winter. Building dryer lots for the animals is top of my list.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Molly update

Our little female mule is getting bigger. She runs around kicking and jumping. She is starting to eat grass now. It is time to put a halter on her and do a little groundwork.

Hoof Rot

Yeap, my goats have it. I feel bad for this happening to them. I have been trimming their hooves and applied some medicine. They aren’t cooperating very well. I am a little out of my element trimming hooves. There is a couple that lives down the road from us that have a herd of goats. I am going to talk with them on hoof trimming and treating hoof rot.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Goats out of Control

I’m sitting at my desk (away from home) and the phone rings. Christine, my wife, is on the other end. “Your goats are out” she says. I respond with, “okay, but what can I do”?

The goats had gotten out of their pen by pushing a board out of their way at the edge of the electric fence. They were grazing over by the pond enjoying their new found freedom. Christine’s uncle Rich put them back in the pen. Claudia secured the board to prevent any future escapes.

I can’t blame them for wanting to get out and explore the area. It has been raining for the past 3-5 days (I stopped counting). The top of the pond dam is torn up from the horses coming over and getting their water. The ground is so saturated.

My legs are so sore from walking in the mud. I sink to my ankles. I am so tired of this weather. It wouldn’t be bad if I didn’t have to go out in it. The animals don’t care if I’m tired, they want food. Rain go away.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Get Ready for Spring

Time to rid the garage of all the trash accumulated during winter. Start the upkeep of the fences, pens, and coops. Get the mowers and other machinery ready to work. The most important task is prepping the garden.

We are planning a large garden this year. We are still eating veggies from last year’s garden. I think we’ll do more beans than Tomatoes, unless we get a dehydrator. Perhaps I can build a solar dehydrator. Note to self- surf web for plans.

I am going to build a breeding pen for my chickens this week. I am going to incubate a couple dozen. Keeping the girls from opening the lid on the incubator will be the hardest part.

Our farm is turning into a commune. I have mixed feelings about that. Seems like too many decision makers in the mix. Everyone has their own way of doing things and there all different. We’ll see how this year plays out.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Vacation Do Over

Can I have a vacation do over? Contrary to popular belief, I have a great time on vacation.
The girls rode an airplane for the first time. They both did great. We had a few more potty breaks than I was wanting, but overall they were good.

We landed at the Phoenix, AZ airport around 9:00 PM. Kathy and Randy picked us up. It took about 2 hours to get back to the RV Park. We basically just changed clothes, put the girls down and went to sleep.

In the morning we were rested (well as much as we could be) and headed out for some sight seeing. We went to the Sonoma Desert and looked at cactuses. I didn’t realize how many different types of cactuses there are. Surprisingly enough the girls didn’t get stuck once. Great job girls! We came back and the girls, Kathy, and Christine went swimming in the Park’s pool. They had fun. Later the girls fed the fish that are in a converted concrete pool by Kathy and Randy’s RV site.

We stuck around on Friday until Christine’s parcel package arrived. We hit the road around 1:00 PM Friday. We drove all day and pretty much all night. GET ME OUT OF TEXAS!!! It took forever to get out of that state.

Saturday we had to stop and get a room. That was a gaggle in itself. Christine was on he cell phone trying to find a hotel that had an indoor pool and hot tub (this was for us). She found an indoor pool but no hot tub (bummer). I took the girls swimming so they could burn off some energy. Christine stayed in the room (I drew short straw, just kidding). We ordered pizza and ate in the room. In the morning we were good to go.

Sunday we woke up refreshed. Threw the luggage in the van and headed out. Cheyenne decided she was car sick and puked while we were getting gas. She was really mad becaus she was told to quit kicking the back of the seat and worked herself up to puke. We arrived at mom and dad’s around 11:30AM. I cleaned the van and had a beer.

We left for the Mardi Gras parade around 1:30 PM. We got to our standing spot and met up with Heather (my oldest daughter), Brian (son-in-law), and William (our grandson) and Amber (my now next to the oldest daughter) & Jeremiah (her fiancĂ©). We had a good time and got plenty of beads and stuffed animals for the floats. My sister Lisa and Aaron (her son, my nephew) was on a float and unloaded a ton of beads and other items on the girls. We all headed back to Mom & Dad’s house for supper.

My brother Chris and his family (Amy, my sister-in-law, Christopher & Tyler, my nephews) came over. It was a whirl wind for the rest of the day. Monday was family photos. I’ll post some as time permits.

Tuesday Christine & I took the girls to the beach. I don’t think they had ever been to the beach before. They ran around in the sand, built a sand castle with Christine, and walked in the water a bit. They had a good time. We then went to Ocean Springs to the Conservation Park. We walked the trails and visited the visitor center. The girls enjoyed the park. We then headed to were I grew up. The casinos bought the area and cleared off the lots. I got out and walked where the house used to be. I found a couple of marbles. I kept them. Back to mom’s house. The rest of the family came over after the parades ended. Wednesday morning we headed out. Time to head home. That's another story.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Sickly House

I am still hacking up this cold or whatever it is. I go to the doctor today. I haven’t been able to sleep for the past 2 nights. I’ve been up coughing to the point of puking. Time to go to the doctor.

Lexi has pinkeye. We have her on antibodies. Cheyenne has a cough that sounds horrible. She is on meds also. I go in to the doc today and should get some thing for this stuff in my chest. Christine seems to be doing better after her bout with pneumonia. I hope we can get well enough to get on the plane for vacation.

Coworkers are starting to hack and cough. I hope I’m not responsible for it.