Blind Hog and Acorn

Busy week at the farm...  Acorn fighting deer, Blind Hog on the mower...  Both farmers dealing with "natural selection" when it comes to goat kids. Sam killt a groundhog and made himself very happy.  A 13 pounder!  Blind Hog was able to retrieve "the body" before Sam tucked in.  That dog will eviscerate a groundhog and leave nothing but a pelt with paws... New battery pushmower...

Blind Hog and Acorn have been hot hot hot- working a bit outside them coming back in.  Sam decided that he likes being an indoor dog, well- unless he is hungry and wants a baby bunny...  ugh. Garden is starting to produce the produce.  Irrigation lines running well. Plenty of grass for the goats and all the scrub and brush they can manage. Acorn still has a wonky foot, ,but hiking boots are the sa...

Blind Hog and Acorm welcomed Midsommar by picking blueberries at a local farm.  90 min for the two of them to fill their buckets, 13 lbs total.  Not bad for $30. Beef is what has been for lunch... NY strips and an arm roast.  All delicious.  Thank you, Calpurnia and Mr Tasty! Garden is almost completely set up again for irrigation. Acorn needs more drip tape.  Took almost 10 yrs to use up the 1000...

Acorn is back to the farm after fun fun fun in Texas...   ALL the funs! Blind Hog figures he will soon need a white cane as he navigates the fields while afoot.  He and Sam commiserated while Acorn was partying it up. More about Blind Hog's self-purchased Father's Day present next week... They do grow bugs BIG in Texas...  the walking stick AND those wacky katydids...

Been a busy week on the farm as Acorn prepares to leave Blind Hog alone with Sam...   "Will they survive or will Acorn return to find the two just withered away???" Mechanical troubles raising their ugly heads...  Good news is that the driveway is somewhat graded, and Acorn mowed the lawn, baked and cooked, weed whacked the garden and Blind Hog got an in-service on how to text, take, and...

Damn near 5 inches in 12 hrs or less...  Needless to say that Blind Hog's most perfect driveway grading this week got washed out down to the uneven bedrock. Blind Hog and Acorn recorded the podcast en route to Sam's Club for a 225' roll of landscape fabric.  Acorn needs 6 or 8' is all...  However, that roll will last a few seasons as needed... Acorn is getting ready for a car c...

"Official" start of summer, so Acorn told the cats they had to hand out under th3 carport, where they USED to hang out until they figured out how to go in and out of the dog door.  Speaking of which, the door has been boarded up until it begins to freeze.  The farmers spent almost 3 hrs cleaning the porch of cat hair, bunny fur and various tidbits but alas!  The screen porch is now useab...

Blind Hog hooked up the brush hog and went at the pastures...  they all need clipping... Acorn had funs with the string trimmer before "graduating" to the zero-turn mower... Comical, to say the least... Hummingbirds have their stack of four feeders...  Birds are going at it. Last goat to kid for 2024 has completed her task.  A nice buck for Callie. Garden is going swell, geese need a few...

The aurora found the farm!  And, AND- it may find Blind Hog and Acorn again tonight as NOAA issued a G5 solar warning, G5 being "extreme." Blind Hog and Acorn learned about the workings of "vinyl replacement window companies..." Blind Hog got to cut on more fallen trees, Acorn attacked the garden and side hill with the string trimmer. Acorn also installed an electronic ignition...

The time came for out last two Dexter cattle to be sent to the butcher.  We did arrange for "on farm kill" for Mr Tasty the steer (the last calf born on the farm) and our good old Calpurnia (one of the first calves who arrived at the farm).  Will not get into all the arguments  defending the decision to "eat a family member" but I will say this, she had a goodly bit of fat cove...

Yes indeedy- rain is falling on the farm.  Blind Hog and Acorn got yard chores done earlier in the week and have a bona fide excuse to sit on their rumps and catch up on reading, English Premier League football, baking- all the usual things that lazy farmers love to do. Acorn's amazing match skills never cease to impress...  Getting 72 from adding 24  +16 + 16...  Adding in an extra pint in t...

Blind Hog and Acorn said goodbye to Skittles the macaw this week- the houseguest went back home.  In fact, the neighbors sent pictures- they have cleared the location of the house, pushed all the remains in a pile and will haul the metal to the recyclers.  The site looks great.  Is also helpful when you own a bulldozer and Colleen likes to run her dozer... Asparagus is doing great- three pickings...

Warning!  There is a VER LOUD houseguest at the farm... What a week...  Eclipse, asparagus, quads, and our neighbor's housefire capped things off.  I just cannot imagine their loss. While they get themselves straightened out, we are babysitting Mr Skittles, a scarlet macaw. One bottle kid is on a 3x a day feeding schedule, the other 4x a day.  The first feeding is the only time both are fed a...

Yup- 18 years ago Blind Hog, Acorn and the Badger, along with all the stuffs/animals/pickups/trailers- began the two day drive to Missouri... Monday is Eclipse Day. ..  So exciting.  The farm should see 99.4% totality. Lil' honkers hatching but not without issues...  Blind Hog had issues with his laptop...  Acorn is still pissed at the deer but went out and strung electric twine 7 feet up aro...

BEES IN THE HOUSE!   Yes, mild panic ensued but 5 bees was 5 more than needed. One of Acorn's nightmares...  Turns out, it was a few mason bees hatching out after hibernating in the bark of firewood that Blind Hog brought in....  PHEW!!! Yo-yo temperatures continue.  Acorn may have to buy cold crop garden starts after all...  The cabbage, broccoli and kale did not enjoy the below 20F mornings...

Milk at least for the morning skyr...  Yes, milking time is back. Even have a half dairy girl who thinks she is worthy of the morning ritual.  Acorn has had one like this in the past. Old Bonehead did fine for many years... No new kids born, three nannies still to deliver. Temperatures all over the field, highs, lows and in between. Goslings hatching, three so far and the buyer will take them in t...

Chevy Tracker is running again!   Acorn for the mechanic win! Goats being born (17) and two doelings died- one by black vulture attack, the other probably butted hard when it got confused and went to the wrong nanny.  Trying to graft Peanut (the runty triplet) onto the nanny whose kid was killed by the vulture.  Wish that was going smoother. Goslings hatching- so far three more hatch dates ahead-...

"See that little doeling?  She's not dead, she's just mostly dead" as Miracle Max would say... And so kidding begins...  Triplets, twins, twins, and an eight pound miracle single. Second batch of goose eggs in the incubator, cold snap moving in tonight. Blind Hog has been splitting firewood, Acorn playing the midwife.  All and all, a tiring week on the farm!

After the purge came the big payout...  686 lbs of scrap metal to the recycler, all for $76...  Like selling a truckload of black walnuts to the hulling station...  Actually, walnuts bring a few more pennies per pound... Workshop cleared, hay set out, goats sorted-tagged-vaxxed, fuel filter replaced on the Tracker.  Now Acorn has to see about changing the distributor. Fun fun...  Then to the Big C...

Acorn is going to town cleaning the workshop; or as Frank calls, it our "plunder room..."  Like Texas has pirates?  Plunder?   Arrrrrrrrrr! A good week of work on the farm overall.  Bookkeeping done, doctor appts all good, farm animals doing well and Blind Hog is bringing home nice dead oak logs from our next door neighbor. Cutting ands splitting all those will keep him busy! Bees have b...

Holy temperature rollercoaster, Batman!   Super Bowl, then snow, then 70's, and tomorrow will be in the teens... Geese are laying, eggs picked up and in the incubator.  Cold weather seeds are started- LED growlights turning everything pink. Goats have hay, so happy we are not kidding this early. New washer/dryer pair are the bomb, even if they DON'T have steam features!  Ha!  Acorn made...

Acorn got the first major section of the roof re-screwed, Blind Hog cut a downed tree that had been bugging him.    After  several hours of researching, Acorn found a washer dryer pair that fit the bill for the farm- no fru fru cycles, no wifi enabling...  Just the facts, ma'am... LG 3400...  The washer has run its first test load of clean towels, no leaks noted.  Now the dryer is being teste...

Much accomplished!  1,000 screws replaced in the roof of the house, 2,000 more should do it.  These have been ordered. House repairs, farm chores, goats got worked.  Temps hit 70!!! Nice moon the other day, getting about time to start some seeds...

The farm got iced; Acorn fell on her ass, the Subaru slipped and Blind Hog was reeled in like a big old tuna.  Happily, the icing only lasted 48 hrs which was LONG enough! Power never flickered and next week the farm will see actual sunshine and temps pushing 60F. Acorn went to a hen party...  Yes, goat people are all nutty.  Also, Google Lens is the perfect tool... See the results from a Mystery...

Winter embraces us, and between chores, throwing wood in the stove, and keeping the livestock happy, Acorn has been able to manage to sit down and watch some football.  Blind Hog will get some chocolate pie later today, named after Bruce the NannyDog.  Blind Hog just went to the dentist, so might as well enjoy some pie... 23F as we speak- just soooooo nippy!