Goats,Chickens,and Leaves,Oh My!

Well,whatever the issue was that I had with Blogger,it's been fixed,and I can now download photos again :)

Here are some pics taken over the week:

First up,the adorable little Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats at Tiny Hill Farm!

All three of us fell in love with this sweet little beige guy. He was so cute,and had such a "please take me home look!" 

They were so very friendly,and enjoyed chomping on our sweatshirts. They especially liked Zach's. I was so glad that we were able to arrange our visit during his school vacation week.

I took this pic to show how small the babies are. Rick is 6'1". The little beige guy really liked him. Larissa,one of the owners of the farm,is on the right of the pic. She was wonderful and very helpful.

Friday our 30 broilers came in. Zach had to pick a few up because they are so cute...but he knows they are food,not pets.

I know...how could we think of eating such cute little things?

Spring has finally sprung in NH! We have leaves popping out on trees....

And the maples will soon follow suit. It seems like the green takes a long time to take over,but then,one day,we wake up and all the leaves are out.

The Girls have been enjoying some free range time,now that the weather is nice. They take care of the bugs and ticks...

....and some of the weeds that I haven't pulled out of my garden boxes yet.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Lots Going On!!!!

For some reason,I can't post any photos today. Either Blogger or my computer is being ornery.

Let's see...I guess the first thing is that I have been laid low lately. I tripped going up our bedroom stairs and fell on the edge of the top step,landing just below my left wrist. It hurt so much that I was sick to my stomach,and couldn't talk when Rick came running to me because he heard me cry out. I sat there for a few minutes until the nausea wore off. My wrist stung,and I thought I had scraped it,but no. The next morning,it was a whole assortment of colors,and terribly swollen. I put an ice pack on it,but that didn't help,and I had pain going up my arm. Rick insisted on taking me to the ER for some xrays,because he thought I had fractured it. The Dr in the ER took a look,and his first assessment was that I had indeed broken it,but the xrays determined that I didn't,I just have a big old nasty hematoma. I have a bandage wrap for my lower arm,been alternating ice and heat on it,and been taking 800 mg of ibuprofen every six hours. This was last Saturday. The bruise is now a yellowish purple color,but it still hurts. It doesn't help that I also have tendinitis in my left elbow,and actually had to go to the Drs for that few weeks ago. Sigh. Needless to say,my activities have been somewhat curtailed.

The weather here in NH has finally started to feel like Spring. The leaves are coming out on the trees,and the weather has been nice. This week the temps are suppose to be in the 60's to the low 70's. Yesterday I sat out on the deck after I took the hay off our garlic and strawberry plants. They are coming up nicely.

The Girls enjoyed the afternoon free ranging around the backyard and ate lots of bugs. They also dug up some of the weeds in my garden boxes.This week I must weed the boxes and get fresh compost in them. I have some Rutgers tomato seedlings that I have started. I am not starting my cukes and pumpkins yet,they sprout so quickly that I don't see the necessity.

One thing awesome thing we did last week during Zach's Spring vacation was visit Tiny Hill Farm in Milton Mills,which is just a couple of towns over from us. Rick got their business card from our local feed store,Longmeadow. We are looking to get Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats,and Tiny Hill sells them. I got in contact with one of the owners,Larissa,and we went for a visit.One of the things that she said that impressed me was that she was willing to work with new goat owners,and that she didn't care if we called at 2:00 AM with a question. She also said they bred their goats for milk quality,and that they are all registered and vaccinated. Also,the fact that the farm is local was an added bonus for us. She was so kind and wonderful,and was quite pleased that we had actually done some research on the goats,so we understood most of what she was talking about! We chatted for an hour. We saw the adult goats,and the babies. We have three does ordered for next Spring.

Rick and I have been working on a plan to move our little farm forward,in stages. More about that later :) My arm hurts,so I am going to end this now.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Blackboard Door Project

One of the things that Rick has to deal with on a daily basis is his memory.We have a dry erase calender on our fridge,and Rick has an IPOD with alarms to help remind him when he needs to take meds,etc.We have used lists and post- it notes. He also has me to help with reminders :)

The problem with the calender is it's only so big,and with Dr appts,Boy Scout events and meetings,as well as Zach's after school activities and my various things,it tends to leave very little room. Post- its tend to get overlooked,because they are small. Lists,even though they only have a couple of things on them,don't necessarily get looked at on a daily basis. And,I admit,some days my thoughts are other places and I fail with reminders.

I was trying to think of something that everyone could use,and that Rick would notice,even enjoy using. One day,I realized that I had a great space that was not being used to it's potential-the door to our attic. All I had on here was a bill holder,which held bills (obviously),stamps,the check book,and address labels. Well, I could certainly clear out a drawer in our sewing table for that,so that's what I did.

The next step was figuring out exactly how to do it. I didn't want the space between the boards as part of the blackboard,because it would 1) be a pain when writing, and 2) I didn't like the way it would look. So we decided to buy a board and blackboard paint.

When we went to the store,we discovered that they already sold prepainted blackboards,and that they were actually cheaper than buying a plain board. The problem was they weren't in the best shape. We decided to buy the prepainted board,and just go over it with blackboard paint. We still saved money,and I can use the blackboard paint for other projects.

Rick measured the door,and cut off the appropriate amount off the long side of the board.I wanted it big enough so we could write day a whole days schedule,and it would be in writing that we could read! We also bought nice bright chalk colors. Rick used screws to screw the board onto the door,and he found some longer screws for the door handle,since the old ones weren't long enough to go through the new thickness. I used one coat of blackboard paint,and covered the screws as well.

Voila' !

So Rick knows what day it is at a glance,we have "Today Is" with the day of the week posted. Any activities or chores that are to be accomplished that day are listed. As you can see from above,the only thing that was mandatory the day this board was made was wishing Rick congrats on his retirement!

It wipes off simply with water and a rag. Rick loves it,and likes using it. The space is now used for good purpose!

I would be remiss if I did not mention how grateful and happy we are that the final suspect in the Boston Marathon Bombing was caught alive so we can know why this horrendous act was done and there can be some justice. We have much thanks to law enforcement,who worked hard to bring this to an end. We are also proud of our own Nashua NH SWAT team who helped down in Watertown,MA. Our heart goes out to the family of the MIT officer who lost his life,and we are praying that the MBTA officer who was shot heals quickly.

Justice will be served.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Boston And The 24 Hour Tabloids

I want to take a moment to express our anger and sadness at the bombing in Boston.

The Boston Marathon is over a century old,and it's a very big day in the city,because it falls on Patriot's Day,which is a MA holiday.The kids get the day off from school,and the city is in a very festive atmosphere.

I had brought Zach to the dentist,and the TV was on the news. The bombing had just occurred,and no one knew for sure what had happened. Then,things unfolded.

I must say that the news channels,more specifically the 24 hour ones (some more than others), seem to be more interested in  ratings and getting the story first than they are in facts. Any tidbit of info,mostly not checked for accuracy,is aired. Journalism is not suppose to be speculation.  It's suppose to be fact. Sadly,in this day and age,these channels are usually nothing more political propaganda machines,trying to scare people into believing ridiculous things.The internet is no better.Sadly,many fall for it,hook,line,and sinker. I am constantly amazed and saddened when I hear people-good people-repeat things as if it is fact.Hate, fear,and paranoia seem to rule the day.

I, at one point,wanted to be a journalist. I admired Walter Cronkite,Barbara Walters,Peter Jennings,etc.Today,I mourn for the industry that I once revered,as it has descended into nothing better than a supermarket tabloid.

I remember the sad day when President Reagan was shot. I was watching ABC news,and Frank Reynolds was anchor. At first,it was reported that the President had been been harmed,but then it was confirmed that he was. This info was given to Reynolds through his earpiece,and I can still hear his words and the emotion in his voice..." What?  Oh my God...we have just confirmed that the President WAS shot..." He then voiced his anger at the news staff in no uncertain terms-"LET"S GET IT RIGHT,PEOPLE!"

Yes,please,let's!

Until the public starts demanding truth in broadcasting,and stops watching the 24 hour fear machines,we will continue to be misinformed.

I am going to go outside and enjoy Nature, Nature never has a bias.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Bad Weather Won't Dampen Good News!!!

Today we are having freezing rain. I was sitting on the deck just the other day enjoying the weather,and now,we have ice on our cars.

However,that will not squash the good news of the day.


Rick has finally been retired by the military. We got the call earlier today. After being wounded 8 years ago,four med boards,running to Dr's appts in Boston and Norwood MA,as well as Gilford NH,filling out hundreds of pages of repetitive paperwork,and three years of temporary retirement,it's finally over.

They gave him 100% disability. Like he said,he's not happy about being considered completely disabled,but he is glad it's finally over. Apparently they finally decided that his PTSD and TBI are not going to get better.

We are going to celebrate!!!

It pays to hang in,I guess.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Still Here

Yep,I'm still here,just fighting another sinus infection. This is the second one in 6 months. Apparently I can no longer get a normal cold,it has to morph into this hideous head swimmy thing.I went to the Dr's on Monday and she gave me antibiotics and an inhaler for my chest congestion/wheezing.

Yesterday I cleaned the fridge and wiped down the front of my cabinets after doing the dishes and sweeping.It was the most I had done in a week. I felt tired,so I laid down...only to wake up four hours later. Yep. This is kicking my butt. I even missed a Muffin Date this week! 

I haven't even been reading blogs much. My brain doesn't the have attention span  it seems.

Hope your'e all well!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!