Our New Goats and Goat House

Our four new goat arrivals made it to Pure Water Hollow safely on Saturday! We loaded the mama and three kids into my old Ford truck with the cage we made back in October for the pigs. The cage is still holding up fine, but I decided to cover it with a tarp to make it less stressfull on the goats. We don’t know much about goat breeds, but we were told that the mama is an Alpine and she was bred with a Boer, so the kids are half Alpine/ half Boer. We know that Alpine is one of the milking breeds, so we are glad about that possibility.

The day on Saturday started early as we still needed to put some finishing touches on the goat house. We just about got it finished Friday evening, but I still wanted to paint it before the goats got in. Saturday morning was perfect weather for painting and all the children helped. I hoped it would be dry by the time we got the goats moved in. It did dry quicky in the sunshine and 80 degrees!

Little Joe was the first goat to be able to check out the new goat house. This picture is a front view. We recessed the opening back a couple of feet so we could put a salt block or something under the roof. Right now we have what they call a "goat block" that has all sorts of good things in it other than salt that Little Joe seemed to love. We made enough room above in the loft to store a bale of hay.




I also bought a hay rack for them and put it on the back of the building:




If you are wondering about the color we chose, we actually did not choose the color. Instead we chose the price! It is from a mix-match that someone did not want to buy. Our Lowes puts those paints out at very reduced prices. We bought the paint last year sometime just because it was so cheap. It was a 5 gallon bucket of a quality brand exterior paint for around $15. If we chose the color in the same paint I think the bucket would have cost $50 or $60 dollars. The goats did not seem to mind the funky color!

We took pictures on Saturday right after we got them unloaded and they were not to sure about things yet. They had just endured a 30 minute truck ride also, so they were not in an overly playful mood. I will probably take some better pictures later, but this is a record of their first few moments with us.

Here are the three kids looking at us:




From left to right they are "Tiny Tim", "Little LuLu", and "Big Jim". They were six weeks old on the 25th.

Here is a good side shot of them. You can also tell better how much smaller Tiny Tim is than his brother and sister:




Little Joe did not know what to make of them at first:




He actually head butted the mama at first:



Pretty soon they made up, though:





We were a bit concerned about Little Joe hurting the mama with his horns, but actually the mama won the top spot. Now if she wants Little Joe to leave, she just looks at him a certain way and he trots off. We have seen her licking him, also.

Here is a better picture of the mama. We are calling her "Mama Belle":




I think she is very pretty. This a better shot of her head. Little LuLu got in the picture with her:




And here is one more picture of them with the goat house in the background. By the way, we still have to finish the roofing on the goat house. We were going to do it Saturday, but decided not to spook them anymore than we had to.




I think we made a good trade for the new goats. It was very exciting getting some more goats and we are happy for the Lord’s blessings. This was a bit sooner than we planned, but it is all working out and we are thankful to Him.

4 comments
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sheryl on March 26, 2007 at 8:22 am
Your new goats are cute and I like the goat house. Good job and I like the color too. What a great deal on the paint. Good luck with them. Have you milk the mama goat yet? Sheryl
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LittleHouse on March 26, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Hello! I love your new goats! The kids are so cute and I love the names! I really like the structure of your goat house! It is neat that you made a little loft to store hay! That is a great idea! Also I love the funky color of the goat house! We can't wait to visit you next week! Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Mary
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Melanie on March 26, 2007 at 6:02 pm
What a great house!! My Dh is actually out working on our goat house right now. We are hoping to pick up our Nubian goats this weekend if he can get it done. A 2 hour drive, but at least they will be in a livestock trailer. 2 milking mama's and one baby.

We certainly have a lot in common, glad you found my blog and excited to see how our goats compare as we learn about these creatures!

Blessings

Melanie
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Meme on March 26, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I think the baby is too cute… I do not raise goats but if I did I would of never thought to do that for the hay…. I will keep that in mind; you never know what tomorrow holds, goats or not..lol Debbie

Progress On Our Goat House

I thought I would share some of the fun we have been having building our “goat house”. It is still not yet finished, but we almost got it done last night. We have actually been working on it off and on for two months now!

When we got Little Joe we knew we needed a better place for him to stay than tied to the doghouse in the front yard. We finally got a fenced in lot up in the hollow and started to design a goat house for him. We knew we wanted to get a friend for him, so we thought ahead to build it big enough for at least two goats.

I do not conceptualize these kinds of things very well, so my wife Lisa went to work drawing up a blueprint in her brain. She is very skilled when it comes to practical, put-it-together projects. I have learned a lot from her over the years! The problem has been finding the time to implement her plans, especially after Matthew went out of commission with the appendicitis.

We have been doing the measuring and sawing down at the house for some time now. It has been a bigger project than we originally thought it would be for us un-skilled builders.



We put it together in pieces and then packed all the pieces up to the barn, to carry them to the goat-lot. Here is my little truck (this is the truck I bought to drive after the Buick died) loaded with all the pieces:



After carrying the sections across the hollow to the fenced-in goat-lot we started to put the pieces together like a puzzle, and nailing them together.








Love was in the Spring air when the children were not looking. Oops, the camera caught us!




Of course I love Lisa even when she doesn’t come up with brilliant building plans…


Matthew thought it was comfortable inside the goat house after a hard days work:




All the pieces have fit perfectly so far! Our only problem was that it finally got dark last night. We enjoyed an 80-degree, mostly sunny day to work on it, but it just did not last long enough! Maybe today we can get it finished.

One problem is, that it might already be too small, since we are getting 4 new goats tomorrow! I am hoping that it will do for a while. Since three of them are quite small it may do OK. There was plenty of room in there for me, and I am probably bigger than all the goats put together!




I will take pictures and try to show you the finished project later.

It looks like it will be a busy weekend!

4 comments
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Crooked Creek Farm on March 23, 2007 at 12:34 pm
That's a great goat house! And how nice that the whole family worked on building it!
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Trixi on March 23, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Wow. That is definitely a great goat house.

Blessings,

Trixi
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Michele on March 23, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I'm sure the goats will love it! Extra blessings on it with the family building it together. Nice job!
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LittleHouse on March 23, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Nice job on the goat house, but you all look like you had too much fun building it. Enough with the smiles and kisses already!

No, seriously it is wonderful that you can all enjoy "work" together. I can't wait to come down and visit all of you!

Love,

"Pa"

Bye-Bye Buick

It has always been hard for me to say good-bye to a faithful car. I have always purchased good used automobiles and tend to keep them around until they no longer run or are no longer safe to drive.

Such was the case with my 94 Buick Century. It was the nicest car I had ever owned and looked very sharp in 2001 when I bought it for $5,000. It only had 83,000 miles on it back then, I think. Now, 6 years later it shows 138,000 miles. The paint on the hood had decided it was not very attached to the car some time ago, and the overall condition of the car had really started to deteriorate.





It was still a good car, though. It even survived a tangle with a coal truck in 2003 with minimal damage. The driver’s side back door was mangled, but still opened. I never did care too much how my car looked, as long as it got me where I needed to go. (After the paint started falling off and with the big dent, I stopped thinking that anyone would try to break into it or steal it! Peace of mind.)

Anyway, back in January it stopped getting me where I needed to go. Something came loose and all the oil fell out. Engines don’t run well with no oil. The old Buick locked up and had to be sadly pulled back home with my 79 Ford truck.

With the body in such shape, (and the transmission had been slipping too) I decided it would not be worth it to get another engine.

I found someone who wanted it for scrap metal. He has goats. I wanted another goat to keep Little Joe company and he wanted metal.

We worked out a trade. He was willing to part with a mama Alpine in milk with three babies. I was willing to part with my old friend (the Buick) and $50. I think it will be a good trade.

The car went away on Wednesday. I am going to pick up the new goats tomorrow.

Good bye my old, faithful friend. Thanks for the years of service and safety. I hate to see you end like this, but at least you can feel good knowing that you are giving your life for the good of the homestead. Your metal is not going in vain! Farewell.







2 comments
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Debi on March 23, 2007 at 8:08 am
Wow!

My parents had a yellow buick that they bought way back in 85 I think when they first came back from Germany. Well let me tell you that car probably drove around the world, went to FL, lived in KY, GA, went to MI, even went to Germany for a few years. Well, when they came back from Germany that second time after a few trips back and forth from GA to AL, they realized that the old car needed to move on. So she was traded in for a 91 Ford Explorer, which my Mom still drives today. But that Ford, well she's getting up there now too; not sure what Dad will get her next. But you just gotta love vehicles that will last the long haul.

Blessings,

Debi
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sheryl on March 26, 2007 at 8:18 am
My mom just gave me a 96 buick regal. It has a lot of miles but seem to be going good. But who knows the engine could blow up tomorrow. Hey it was free though and buicks are good cars. I think you got a good deal trading. You are so lucky. sheryl

Apple Tree Towers?

We got something called "Apple Towers" about 10 years ago when the catalog made a mistake on our order. Since the company let us keep them, we planted them.

They were supposed to be some type of apple bush type of hybrid, I think.

I don’t see them being carried anywhere anymore, so I guess they were a flop. Ours grew much taller than they were supposed to and never have produced anything more than a few blooms.

Here are a couple of pictures of them:






I am thinking about pruning them heavily this year and see what happens.

Does anyone know anything about "Apple Towers"?

(When I googled "apple towers" there came up 1,240,000 sites and the first 80 or so are all about the apple computures! I don’t think there existed an apple tower from MacIntosh when we got these "apple towers!")


1 comment
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sheryl on March 21, 2007 at 8:44 pm
We have apple trees and they need to be pruned before the sap comes up. Feb. or March. or in late fall after the sap goes down. Hope that helps. sheryl

Sorry I had to reread your post. I thought you were asking about pruning. Sorry I have never heard of them. I thought they were some type of apple tree. You have to excuse me, I am so tired and I am just about to fall over. I will ask around for you and see if anyone has heard of them.
Edited by farmgal35 on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 8:48 PM

The Genesis Colony of Pure Water Hollow

We have been interested in bee-keeping and harvesting our own honey for some time, now, and we always felt that someday we would take the plunge into the world of apiary.

We did not exactly plan on it being this soon, but there was the ad in the paper:

"Honey bees and hives for sale." It listed a number from a town near us, less than a 30-minute drive away.

It piqued Lisa's curiosity enough to call and get more info, and I am glad she did. The man had 19 hives and wanted to downsize. He was selling existing, working, hives with a proven track record for $100.

We thought it was a fair price, and after talking with him in person, we realized an added benefit: free neighborly advice and help on down the road when we need it. The man was 70 years old and enjoyed talking about his hobbies very much. We visited for about 3 hours with him when we went to pick up the bees and I know that we can call on him any time if we need help! I am even hoping he will start attending our church.

We also bought from him a super with the frames and a feeder for another $30, so all together we have invested $130 in it. He said we should have honey this September! We will probably need to put another couple of hundred dollars into it as we go along for the needed tools and equipment to harvest the honey. Once we get all set up, though, there should not be much expense to harvesting our own delicious and nutritious liquid gold in the future!

I had read on someone's blog or comment that they were going to call their first hive "Genesis" and I liked it so well I guess I stole their idea! I'm not sure who to give the credit to and maybe there are many Genesis bee colonies out there. Genesis means beginning, and this is the beginning of honeybees here at Pure Water Hollow!

Welcome, Genesis Colony, to your new Pure Water Hollow home!

If they swarm and start a second colony for us we will call that one Exodus! The man we got them from told us how we can catch the swarm and put them into a second hive if we want to. We are going to study up on that. Right now we are thinking that we would like our Genesis colony to get built up bigger and stronger so we will probably try to keep them from swarming.

We located the Genesis Colony up on the middle of the mountain behind our house and garden. There is a level bench of sorts in the mountain where we have a trail that we have always called the Pear Tree Trail. Instead of going toward the pear trees you turn left toward our boundary line. Anyway, I think it is the perfect location. It gets the first sun of the morning and there is water directly down the hill from it. It is on a neglected piece of our property but it is a nice spot. We just have never come up with a use for that area or a reason to go over there. Now, that land has a good purpose and the hive is also out of the way from all the activity that goes on around here.

We spent an hour or so each day on Saturday and Sunday afternoons just sitting and watching the bees come and go. We were only about 6 feet away from somewhere between 20,000 and 80,000 honeybees! They are really gentle creatures who mind their own "beesiness". The puppies were curious about the beehive and stuck their noses right up to the opening! The bees left them alone Saturday, but Princess did get stung on Sunday, however. I guess their "repel the bear" instincts kicked in.

Here are some pictures of the Genesis Colony of Pure Water Hollow honeybees. I guess the pictures are not very impressive or interesting, but I wanted some pictures to record this moment for us anyway.






Next are a couple of pictures of the super with the frames. They need to be cleaned a bit, and then we will add it to the hive body. This is where they will be making the honey.






We give God thanks for our honeybees. The Bible mentions honey and honeycomb numerous times as being a good thing. One beautiful verse is Proverbs 16:24 :

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

May our conversation to one another be pleasant, sweet and healthy! And may our literal honeycomb up on our mountain be sweet to our soul and health to our bones, also!

We have a lot to learn about bee keeping and harvesting honey. I will try to record what we learn as we progress. It is sure to be an exciting adventure!

6 comments
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Debi on March 13, 2007 at 7:30 am
That is so cool, I would love to have honey bees. Except for the fact that they sense fear, and I am not sure that I would ever be calm around them.

But it is something that I hope to try one day. Can't wait to hear how yummy that honey tastes come fall.

Blessings,

Debi
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Morning Sunshine on March 13, 2007 at 8:17 am
yummy. I cannot wait for mine
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~Melissa on March 13, 2007 at 10:15 am
What a buy! I am also looking into bees, but have not gotten any. I am looking to rent them for a season for pollinating our fruit trees… I still haven't found anyone specific. But thought it all goes well, we'll get a hive of our own.

Glad you weren't offended by the fence comment I left. And by the way, I really enjoy your blog.

Melissa
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~Melissa on March 13, 2007 at 10:21 am
I think my comment went into blogland! We're also thinking of bees. I am currently trying to find someone to rent us bees for a year to see if we like having them around. Then we might buy our own hive. However the prices I've gotten, I might as well buy it first, other than not knowing what I am doing. There is a certain price for knowledge. Sounds like you have a wonderful mentor.

Anyways, glad to know you weren't offended by my post on the fencing. I just love reading your blog.

Melissa
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Henry on March 13, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Congrats on your bees! We have talked about getting some when we get to our farm. I took a class in bee keeping, oh about 25 years ago. Not sure if the man told you, but one thing you have to watch out for is skunks. They like to eat the bees. So make sure your hives are set up high enough to keep the skunks out. Make you up some biscuits and load it down with some of your own honey! YUM!
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harmonyhomestead on March 15, 2007 at 9:31 pm
What a wonderful addition to your homestead! Like someone else commented, I would be too fearful to have my own, but thankfully we have a beekeeper just up the road from us.

On Hogs Mourning

(The following is more of the hog conversation with another homesteadblogger.)

Original message from Purewater:

Hello,

You had asked me to talk to my ag teacher friend when I got the chance and ask about pigs mourning.

I finally got to talk to him and he said it is very possible for a hog to become depressed after loosing his mate.

He said it is never a good idea to butcher one pig in the presence of another. Even if they don’t understand what is really happening, they do sense that something is happening and they can pick up on the hormones that are released by the one being butchered. (He used a word that ended in phemes I think, but I can’t remember exactly)

He said it is common for pigs to get depressed even when they are just separated from their litter mates, but they usually come out of it quickly.

He said that Fred could come out of it, depending on how close they were and how long they were together, but he might not, also. The butchering side of it would have made it more difficult on him, but he could still recover. He didn’t know of anything that could be done to help him except keeping food and water in him. He thought there would be a real liklihood of him dying if he did not come out of it.

He thinks that pigs don’t really understand everything good enough to actually mourn like we think of it, but that they can pick up on more than we give them credit for.

Is he still hanging on or did you have to put him down?

In His Love,

Eric

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Original message from farmgal35:

I kept meaning to tell you that he is gone. It has been about a week now. I was afraid it was something we did. I guess out of our ingorance it was. We got oreo for a $100 and the guy told us we could take fred too. He just gave him to us. They had been together for over two years. I have had everything go through my mind as to what it could have been. Everyone started telling that we should have kept him in a floored pen and that they can`t get be in their own mess and you have to be careful different things you can do can bust their hearts.

I really feel bad, it could may have been prevented. I wish I had known. I guess that is what we get for jumping into something we knew nothing about. I wish I had thought about asking you before we butchered oreo. At least he would have had a good home and wouldnt have ended the way it did. I know, I can`t say it enough but I only wish I knew. Thanks for asking about him. You are lucky to have someone to ask question to about things like that. Until later, sheryl

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Sheryl,

You really should not feel too badly. It was all out of your control.

This is how we all learn. If we don’t try things, we don’t learn! Sometimes the lessons are easy to learn, but sometimes they are difficult. But all things do work together for good to those who love God!

It sounds like you had some good learning experiences about pigs along with this bad one. I would have loved to learn about the butchering process! You are no doubt better in many ways because of struggling along with raising pigs, even if you don’t want any more soon.

If you have any ag related questions in the future about anything, let me know. We have two very good ag teachers at Johnson Central and I can pass it along to them. I’m sure you know way more about farming than I do, but if you want an ag teacher’s perspective on anything I am always looking for reasons to visit them!

Enjoy your new chickens!

In His Love,

Eric



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Puppy Update

I thought I would post a quick update on our new Pyr/Lab puppies. After we had them a few days we noticed one was acting very sick. She was lethargic, not keeping her food down, and had no appetite. We took them to the vet and found out they had a puppy disease called Parvo, which is quite serious!

The vet kept them for a few nights and they pulled through! He said he usually has about a 70% survival rate when he treats them during the earlier stages of Parvo.

They are cute as can be, and now have plenty of energy to bounce around and wrestle with each other again. Of course they do sleep a lot, too, like puppies do.

We were not sure what we wanted to name the pups the last time I posted about them and asked for suggestions for names.

We received some good ideas, and even decided to use one of them. We had tentively been using the names “Princess” and “Bear Cub”. We decided to keep the name “Princess”, but “Bear Cub” was not feminine enough.

We got “Bear Cub” back from the vets on Saturday and we were looking forward to viewing the lunar eclipse that evening. (It turned out we were in the hospital with Matthew during the lunar eclipse and also had snow showers at the time! Our star party we were going to attend was canceled due to the weather, so we wouldn't have seen it even if Matthew was well.)

Anyway, Little House had suggested the name “Luna” and that is the name that has stuck the best. Midnight was the father's name, so we didn't want to use that one. We liked Oreo also, but the name Luna won out.

Here are some more pictures of Princess and Luna:

I think this one is Princess:


Here you can see where they had the IV in her leg. I think this one is Luna:




They both love laying on and chewing up Lisa's yucca plants. Bad puppies!




And here is their pround mama, Mamoo:




We are very thankful that the puppies did so well at the vets.

Also thanks to those of you who offered suggestions for names for them!


4 comments
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Ashley on March 14, 2007 at 5:15 pm
We're getting a puppy tomorrow! My son and I will go pick him up as early as possible in the morning. (We'd go at 6am but figure it's best to politely wait for 9am!) He's a black fur-ball too and we're quite excited. He's a Golden Retriever/Border Collie&Aussie Shepard mix.

I second the t-post pounder that someone described. If you don't already have one, you'll find them near the t-posts at the hardware store. My husband borrowed my parent's, but I saw one at Sutherlands, which runs 15% higher in our neck of the woods, for $14. They last forever! For someone who wants to do as much fencing as it sounds like you want too, it'd be a nice investment.

Blessings,

Ashley
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Keeblur on March 14, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I'm glad they're doing better. My Mom works part time for a vet and was telling me just the other day about a puppy they had in there with parvo. Pretty bad stuff! Enjoy those sweet babies!

Vicki
PS. Mama dog is cute too!
Edited by Keeblur on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 10:39 PM
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harmonyhomestead on March 15, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I'm glad to hear the pups pulled through – they are such cuties. Mamoo is gorgeous!
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Skylark on March 15, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I wonder what a yellow lab crossed with a great pyranees would look like…

I'm so clueless about when our dogs are in heat, I can just see our lab getting acquainted with the neighbor's pry!

Unknown Plant…

We are wondering if any fellow bloggers knows what this plant is?



Lisa enjoys identifying the plants here in eastern Kentucky but this was a new one she found Sunday and has not been able to find it in any of our books.

Here is a closer picture:



It is pretty, but it was sort of hiding under some fallen leaves and debris. It is in pretty much total shade on the east side of the mountain.

If anyone has any ideas, we would apprectiate hearing them.

Thanks.


3 comments
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Wisdomfarms on March 13, 2007 at 9:42 am
Pick it and if it smells something like carrots, it might be hemlock.. poisonous. Hard to tell, but I have seen this grow in the undergrowth of forests and it has always been hemlock.

In His Service,

Ray
Prophezine
Our ministry – http://www.prophezine.com
Our CD – Escape The End Time Money Snare – http://www.endtimemoney.com
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Glory Farm on March 13, 2007 at 9:45 am
I was going to comment, but after reading the first comment, I think you'd better check it out very carefully.

From Glory Farm,

Rhonda
Edited by borderling on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 9:46 AM
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Chris on March 14, 2007 at 10:07 am
This looks like Princess Pine, which is on the endangered list of plants in my state (Connecticut). I used to pick loads of it to make Christmas wreaths. Hmmm… wonder if it's usually found in your neck of the woods, or if it just got introduced? I don't believe it's poisonous…. -Chris

Our Goat Fence

Our small lot for Little Joe has been finished for a week now. I was going to wait until we got his house built to post pictures, but I am still having trouble finding the time to get it done. I had Erica's camera out this weekend, and decided to go ahead and take some pictures of the fence. (The pictures are dark because Saturday was a dreary, rainy day.)

We used 4 fifty-foot rolls of fence and the lot is roughly 60' X 40'. For the four rolls we paid about $125 and the gate and hardware was about $50, so all together we have less than $200 in this lot. I have found out since that I could have found 330 feet rolls of similar fencing for much cheaper. I will have to look around better as we increase our fencing!

This was our first attempt at putting up a fence and I did not have much of a clue how to go about it. Now that it is finished I feel silly that the job had intimidated me so much. The following paragraphs will seem rather juvenile to those of you experienced fencer people, but perhaps it will help someone like me who doesn't know where to start. It was really a two-man job, so I was glad that Matthew was around to help.

I started by looking at fences I saw along the road and seeing how they were attached to the posts! There are a lot of fences around here, but I had never given any thought as to how they did it.

I found that Lowe's sells a package of small wire things that attach the fence to the T-posts. It only cost a couple of dollars for as many as I needed. The T-posts cost $3.50 a piece, but Matthew had dug up plenty of them that were around our property, so he saved us quite a bit of money. The Lowe's guy had to show me twice how the clip weaves in through the fence and around the post. It is really quite easy once you get the hang of it. Then you just use pliers to bend the wire so it won't come off.

They also sell u-shaped staples with points on each end that can hammer into wooden posts. The T-posts just need to be pounded into the ground, but wooden ones would require digging holes. We found that it took two of us to hammer in the T-posts, one to hold the post and the other to hammer. A regular hammer did not move it very much so we had to use our wood-mall, which has a sledge hammer head on one side. (I could use a regular sledgehammer around here.) We found that it was much easier if we got above the post as much as possible to hammer on it, since the posts are 6 feet long and that hammer gets pretty heavy.

We took the easy way out and used as many trees as possible with the staples. We did not dig any holes for wooden posts; we just thanked God for the trees and hammered the staples in.




Putting the fence on the posts was surprisingly easy. We attached the fence to the first post and then loosely unwound the fifty feet around all the next posts. Then one of us pulled the fence as tightly as possible to the second post while the other attached the fence to it. Since we were installing the fence up a hill, we sometimes had to do some creative folding of the fence in order to keep the bottom of the fence on the ground. This was not hard either. We just allowed it to over lap and kept going to the next post. We also had to do some overlapping folds around the corners. It was easiest on the level part:




We had the entire fence installed before Matthew had his appendicitis, but the gate was up to me. Again, I did not have much of a clue what to do. I decided to buy a chain-link fence gate and the hardware they sell with it. All together it was less than $50. I bought the type of hinges that are used for wood posts, but I found out that they do not just screw into the wood. You have to have the correct size drill bit to make the job easy, which I did not have. We eventually got it in, however. (Thanks, Lisa, for your help!) It seems to be working well.



It has held up to Little Joe for a week now, so maybe it will do the job we need it to do! The children take Little Joe up there each day and then bring him back down to the doghouse at night or during rain for shelter. Soon we will have a house for him up in his yard!



He really needs a friend goat. It is sad to hear him bleating as soon as we leave him. He really seems to enjoy being around people. Perhaps we will get another goat soon to keep him company!

(When we get him moved up there for good I'll try to come back and show you the little goat house we are going to build.)


2 comments
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~Melissa on March 12, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Ok, dh has put in quite a bit of fence around our pasture, and I always wonder why he does things a certain way and he is kind and patient enough to let me know. I thought I'd share two things…

One, there is a tool you can use to pound posts into the ground easier. I am unsure what it is called, but it is like a pipe with one end blocked… but bigger, maybe 4 inches across. The length of it is maybe 2 feet long or so. And it has handles on the side. You put it over the post and take this thing by the handles and lift it up and pound it onto the post (the end cap thing catches the post and pulls it down with your force. It is quite loud, but works pretty well.

Second, I see some of your fence is a little loose in areas and that is simple enough to tighten up (without a tractor pulling the fence, which we've done when we do long stretches). My dh takes his pliers and puts it on the horizontal lines of the fence and just turns it to a 45-90 degree angle and does this down (vertically) the entire fence. It shortens the span and really holds quite well. You can pick and choose where to tighten depending on the lay of your ground. You may tighten one to 3 sections between posts depending on the need… your fence looked pretty tight, so I don't imagine you would need to do too much of it.

Anyways, not picking, just sharing a tip that dh has used quite often, especially in areas where the tractor pulling on the fence is just not possible. Tightens up the fence and the animals don't feel tempted to pull that edge down (or up).

Enjoy your goat; a friend would be nice… they are social animals, although I've heard the bigger breeds do better alone than the smaller ones. When we had pygmy goats, one died and the other went crazy being alone, got really mean and would catch our legs with his horns, we gave him away to someone who had more goats…. and he nicened back up. A lesson learned for us.

Warmly, ~Melissa
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Purewater on March 13, 2007 at 7:45 am
Thank you very much for taking the time to give such a helpful comment!

You are not being picky at all. All such advice and constructive criticism is very welcomed and sought after! That is part of what this blog is all about.

We are complete novices concerning just about everything I post here. This is really a record of our experiments and learning experiences as we try to get back to basics and a simpler life stye for the glory of God! We can use all the help we can get!

By the way, your blog is one of my favorites!

Please feel free anytime to share anything you think might be helpful!

*I discovered that the tool is called a T-Post Driver. I need to get one!*

Our Regularly Scheduled Program Was Interrupted

Wow. Much has gone on since the end of February, but one thing especially was unplanned for. My son, Matthew had appendicitis and had to have an emergency appendectomy!

Saturday, after I returned home from picking up the second puppy from the vets (they both recovered from the parvo, by the way, and are bouncing all over the place again) my wife informed me that she thought we should perhaps take Matthew in to the emergency room!

What !?!?!

It is very unusual for us to go to the doctor, much less the emergency room! We are not ones to run out to the ER for any little mishap, which have been many over the years. Usually we tell the children to dust themselves off and they are fine. Lisa has an uncanny sense that she knows when their mishap is serious and needs her immediate attention and when it is not serious. The children scream with the same intensity in either case, but she always seems to know what's really going on with them.

The only other time we rushed to the emergency room was two years ago when she recognized that Matthew was having an allergic reaction to a hornet sting. He had never had a reaction before, but by the time we got him to the emergency room, his windpipe was swelling shut and they were afraid he was close to anaphylactic shock! They took him right in (since it was a real emergency) and said that it was a close one. He wasn't complaining much that time either!

Last Friday Lisa and the children spent all day helping with a fundraiser dinner at church. Matthew had mentioned something about an upset stomach, but never complained. They were making and selling chicken and dumpling dinners to raise money for a dear lady who needs surgery. (This was the same cause for which we purchased Little Joe at that charity auction. By the way, our little church raised $4,000 for the surgery fund by selling and delivering those chicken and dumplings dinners over the weekend at $5 a box! Those roosters we recently harvested came in handy.) He took some gas medicine before he went to bed that night and we gave him some Sprite, to see if that would help.

Matthew did not sleep much through the night because of the abdominal pain and some vomiting. He had a very low fever once, but pretty normal otherwise. He did not complain and was looking forward to working on the goat-yard gate and goat house that afternoon, which was our planned activity for the day. He took some medicine for his upset stomach and I left to get the puppy and run some errands at the courthouse.

When I returned, Lisa said she thought it was appendicitis because Matthew had mentioned that the pain had kind of settled in the right side of his stomach. We read all we could find about appendicitis and decided that we better get him to the hospital.

Again, the ER believed us that it really was an emergency and took him right in starting the various tests. They allowed both Lisa and me to be back there with him even though they said there was only supposed to be one person. Erica, Christina, and Simon waited patiently in the waiting room. (They were apparently very well behaved and just colored and talked nicely to one another.) It did not take long before the ER staff agreed with Lisa's diagnosis of appendicitis and had him rushing off to the surgery table!

The whole family was allowed to go back to be with Matthew as they prepped him for the surgery and getting him hooked up with the anesthesia. Again, this was unusual, but the staff saw something in my family that made them want to bend the rules.

Matthew's brother and sisters all told him how much they loved him and would be praying for him. It was difficult for us all not to shed the tears we were feeling, seeing him laying there so helpless. We had a family prayer together as Matthew was fading off to the land of slumber.

The anesthesiologist said afterward that he had asked Matthew to think pleasant thoughts as the medicine was taking effect later. You never know what a person will say under the effects of that type of medicine. He said Matthew spoke about wanting to be home and feeding his pigs and little goat and building a goat house! Those were his pleasant thoughts!

About two hours later he was in the recovery room and coming off of the medicine. Again they let the whole family be back there as he came back to consciousness. Now our tears were of thankfulness and joy, but he still seemed so helpless. It wasn't long before he was sleeping in a regular hospital room. He made me so proud the way he handled everything and was a constant testimony to God's greatness!

We give God the glory for the successful surgery. We thank Him for the way the entire staff treated the situation and how He gave them the knowledge and expertise to do what was needed. The surgeon was new to our area, and was highly trained and knowledgeable. He was going to do the traditional surgery but we asked about Laparoscopic surgery. He said that he was comfortable with either procedure and had done many of both. We learned later that Matthew's surgery was the first laparoscopic appendectomy to ever be performed at this hospital! To God be the glory!

I am also amazed and thankful how God used my family to touch the staff. Some of the emergency room staff even came up to visit Matthew after they got off work! They said we were different... They were amazed at how well behaved the children were and how they seemed to genuinely love one another. They were impressed with how Matthew handled the whole ordeal; his demeanor, calmness, and maturity. Matthew was not the typical 13 year-old that they were used to seeing.

When it was almost time for us to leave, one of the regular nurses came up to Lisa and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but we are all wondering: What are you?"

After Lisa looked quite perplexed the nurse explained that she was talking about our faith. They all recognized that we had something that they do not often see. Lisa and the girls were always in dresses, I had a big beard, and there was such a peace about us. We were not "in fashion" and had a totally different outlook on life.

Lisa responded, "We're Christians."


It is a shame that Christianity has blended in so much with the world that the real thing seems strange. We do not even use head-coverings, and are actually quite "worldly" when compared to the conservative Mennonites or Amish.


Lisa went on to explain that we attend a normal Free Will Baptist church but we have just made a concerted effort to not be "of the world" and that we try to live our lives in a way that pleases the Lord. It was a wonderful opportunity to testify about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

It is a humbling feeling to realize that we can point people toward God just by the way we conduct our lives.


Matthew was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon and was home by Sunday evening. I thought it might be too early, and the first day was pretty painful for him, but he has rebounded wonderfully. He is feeling quite well now, and just can't wait to get back to work around the farm! He felt very badly that he could not help me put the finishing touches on the goat fence and gate, which I have completed now. (We still need to get the goat house built, but Erica is taking Little Joe up to his lot everyday and bringing him back down to the doghouse each evening. Everyone is pitching in with helping feed the pigs.)


I testified last night at church that for this ordeal to have been such a bad experience, it was actually a quite good experience! (in a strange way) We know that all things work together for good to them that love Him. We give Him all glory and praise! Thank you, Lord, for helping us all to handle this situation in a way pleasing to you, and for allowing your protection and peace to fall upon us.


4 comments
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morningsunshine March 8, 2007 at 9:25 am
Hey, prayers to Matthew. I hope he is up and going (safely!) soon!
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LittleHouse on March 8, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Hello! I am glad Matthew is feeling a little better! I am praying that he recovers fast and he is feeling better each day! I hope everything is going well, and tell everyone "Hi" for me! I love you all

Love,

Mary
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HSB Front Porch on March 8, 2007 at 6:59 pm
What a wonderful testimony. Thanks for sharing!! It's amazing to see what God can do in these situations, isn't it?

~Nancy
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Mom on March 8, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Wow! I sure hope Matthew gets well soon.

maa's mom
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mom2ahousefull on March 9, 2007 at 7:05 am
Praise God for Matt's safety, and returning health.

PS- Lisa, dear, check your email.