Farm dinner

Well one of the hens would not go in the pen and as such volunteered to come to dinner. 3 pumps with the BB gun at 13 yards and a little time helping her get cleaned up for dinner. Should be a great meal. 

Rural fix it razor

This evening my wife's razor handle broke. Solution: find something that will fit the razor slot and avoid a 20 minute drive to town. Mission accomplished. Considering razors are for cutting hair I thought I would look in my tool box tray designated for cutting. Tin snips were too bulky. Sissors were too slim. But the saw blade now that was just right. And so in about 5 minutes we saved a hour of driving to town and back, $10 for a razor handle (saved for today but probably buying soon) and the gas money a town trip would entail. Net win if you ask me. Plus I can still use the saw blade when she is done. 

Addition

We are making progress on the addition. It is dry inside with a roof in and tar paper wrapping the sides. We have part of the floor down with insulation to boot. We even ran some pex in the floor in case we ever want to plumb in radiant flooring. Today the big project was purlins on the side of the house in preperation for metal siding ( turns out metal siding is less expensive than wood per square foot, oh and less maintenance) 

Though house building has replaced old hobbies such  as rock climbing the skills still come in handy. This would be lead bolting bolt 2 if we were climbing rock but as it is the house it is just purlin mounting. 

Dc low voltage lights

Amidst the darkness of Winter we have found a light. No more need for kerosene and candles. Thanks to Lowes we now have indoor lighting in our little house. $30 for 3 lights with a solar charger is not too bad a deal. For the amount we paid monthly on kerosene we had 1/2 the new system paid for. It is a simple and basic set up. Thousands of folks have this little set up in their front yards. We have it on our ceiling. More thoughts on this set up and the logic of dc low voltage lighting independent of main house power is to come. 

Pink eye

Iris, the good goat, did not take well to the addition of more goats to the herd. Like an aboriginal exposed to European flu she feel victim to illness. Iris spent 2 weeks blind in both eyes due to pink eye brought into the herd by a new goat. She endured a vet visit, both eyes stitched shut with med, and 2 weeks cloistered away in her own barn stall. she has regained most of her sight in one eye though the other seems to have failed her. This has made her all the more clingy     

New goats

We added to the herd. We now have 3 does and one buck. While bucks are nasty creatures the does are nice though skidish. I still have to say Iris is my favorite as she will come right over and lay her head on my shoulder when I crouch down. She also lets small children ride her around the pasture. All in all a real nice goat. 

Growth update

The high tunnel we installed this late Summer is yielding returns. We have several rows of Winter greens thriving in the cover of the tunnel. I am real happy with how it is performing.