Long Weekend

Last weekend, Jordan and I went to Dallas (TX) to visit my best friend and her new baby. We were gone for four days. It was a nice long weekend that included hanging by the pool, mani's and pedi's, longhorns (it was Texas) and lots of baby-time. But now I'm behind!

Don't get me wrong - Jeremy is wonderful on the farm. Here is a run down of what he accomplished while we were out of town. First, the branches that came off the black cottonwood were moved off the driveway, cut up and nicely stacked in the truck ready to be taken to our friend's that heat by wood stove. Second, he fixed the irrigation. That's right - the irrigation debacle is over. After getting some advice from the "wood stove friend", aka George, Jeremy decided to get rid of the elbows in the pipe. He had to dig out more and cut the pipe, again. He also had to visit Wilco, again, to get new pipe fittings that, well, fit. Four hours later, all the piping was assembled (no need for the 2-hour drying to cement) and the water was back. There was a slight leak, which was remedied by pipe wrench. He even came up with an ingenious idea so we can reach the shut off valve without digging it out again. He cut the bottom out of 3 large black plastic pots and stacking them up - nice!

Third, Jeremy trimmed up the sheep some more. Since we don't have a pinch cage/sheering station, we 'sheer' the sheep while petting them. This is a very long process that lasts multiple weekends and during that time the sheep often look funny. When Jordan and I got home, we headed straight down to visit the animals. Junior, with his newly trimmed chest/front shoulders, is now resembling an armadillo. Lilly also got trimmed, but she only had patience for one side, so her butt is lopsided.

So with all the work Jeremy did, why do I feel behind. Well, for one, the garden needs to be agitated. I swear I can hear the weeds sprouting. Agitation is the best way to keep the weeds down, but it has to be done every week - no excuses. Guess I'll fit it in tomorrow.

Also, the chicken coop needs cleaning out. Not a full spray down, although if the weather holds we can do it next weekend, but the poo needs to be scrapped out. I noticed that Pearl (my favorite of the chickens) has a gunky vent. Ever since she was just a chick her vent gunks up. Every few months, I put on gloves and get in there. It's icky, but necessary. Anyway, she is all gunked up again. Guess I'll fit it in tomorrow or maybe Wednesday. (BTW - If anyone has suggestions about how to prevent the gunky build up, I'd love to hear it.)

This is why farmers don't vacation! I'm just a hobby farmer who took a long weekend. Imagine if I had a real farm!