Where has the summer gone? Well, I'm pretty sure I know. Of course, we're still not entirely unpacked. However, I plan to get a bunch of unpacking done this week and maybe, just maybe, I'll unearth that camera! So, in lieu of a camera I will have to paint a picture of the ever-expanding Tifftown with my words.
We "officially" moved into the new digs August 3rd. Of course, the house wasn't actually finished or anything. Our kitchen consisted of a utility sink, fold up table and a stove and fridge. (At least we had appliances. That made camping in the house completely civilized). We actually had the audacity to have some friends over for dinner one night. "Hey, we need steak knives! Hold this flashlight while I dig through this box!"
In the meantime our star thistle, bindweed and other as yet unnamed weeds continued to spring from the dried bed of foxtails left behind after the spring rains. Now, with all this land, that is a heck of a lot to mow! At the suggestion of Adam, our fantastic realestate guy (who made out like a bandit courtesy of us this summer) we are borrowing some goats to do the "organic weed n' feed". That's right, those things can turn the most invasive weed into fertilizer. I'm pretty stoked! The kids' strings teacher is letting us borrow a momma goat, Starlight, and her two kids. Actually, she'd like us to keep the little boys, but Michael insists that every animal on the farm has to be a working animal. So, he says if we keep them, we eat them. I am not quite there yet. Plus that was not the arrangement I had with Shelley when I loaded those goats into the back of the minivan. So, when they are done weeding the backyard, they will go back home to Forest Ranch.
And because we have all this land and enthusiasm for varmints, we took one of our contractors up on his offer of some chickens. Last Thursday evening Michael and I drove up to Los Molinos and wrangled five hens and a rooster. I was so stoked to wake up Friday morning to the "cockadoodledoo" Mr. Johnson (so dubbed by Michael) and the bleating of the goats. I felt like I was on a real farm. Quiche or pound cake anyone? We've got some eggs!
Of course all these rascally animals led to the necessity of a fence. I couldn't believe how fast we were going through the chicken food. Turns out those goats were having a feast. Carb addicts! So, while are cabinets were being installed in the kitchen the other day, Michael and I were fencing off the future orchard/poultry/bee zone in the back forty. Dang! It was hot out there.
And even without the garden of my own (yet!), we have been receiving gifts of fresh veggies from our neighbors and friends. I have a whole basket of tomatoes and basil and squash that are just begging to be sauced at this point (now that I have a kitchen!) And some friends called us last night and popped over with some freshly harvested raw honey from their backyard hive. How lucky are we??!
Okay, as soon as I discover in which box our camera lies, I will snap off some pix of the poultry flock (9 hens and a rooster) as well as those crazy goats. Plus, I'm hoping to put up some "before and after" pix of the parts of the house.
Love from Rancho Wilhelm ... come visit!
No comments:
Post a Comment