Pasure Shelter 2.0

Last year we made our own pasture shelter out of cattle panels, a tarp and some pallets. Through the winter the constant wind just totally destroyed the t-posts that were holding it upright and the posts bent.

My husband the engineer later informed me it was because they weren't true t-posts, they were garden posts and were a "U" shape which allowed them to bend. They were also cheaper.... Ah well, you live and learn and go back and overengineer the damn thing a second time.

So with the engineer husband on board to just REALLY make sure this thing is still semi-permanent but unlikely to blow over, we set about correcting the original design.

The first one was open on two sides with the cattle panels arcing over the top. Good for shade and not a three sided shelter.

We had to add some cross bracing so that if the wind blew, there would be strong enough resistance to the sheer force.

The animals are happy to be on plentiful grass, and just in time as I've run out of hay and the hay guy I called and reserved 50 with has blown me off.

I bought a few 8ft 2x4s only to discover yesterday when we went to go attach them that we had spaced the shelter to be 8 feet wide. WOMP WOMP.

Engineer husband had a great idea though. We had spare plywood in the shed and that was 8 feet long. He grabbed one full panel and a second as well. We slid the 8ft full panel on the north side closer to the fence line then cut plywood panels to overlap the plywood and the end of the pallets. My useless 2x4s became useful as an additional anchor point on the inside of the plywood so that the nice long screws wouldn't cause issues.

Voila! The structure stands once again with no slanted support! And hopefully much better wind resistance. Until our budget allows for a better run in shed, this will be serviceable and is ready for the beginning of the season of them on this pasture while I let the winter one start resting.

It felt good to get this done. We're also digging out the winter manure and spreading it in the other summer and winter pastures. It's already dry and broken down so it's being used to fill low spots and fertilize everything else. Spring is finally here!

Making Sweet Relish!

So, our garden has been abundant this season! We had collected around 9 lbs of cucumbers (which is a lot of cucumbers by the way) and I knew that I had to SOMETHING with it so that they wouldn't go to waste.  That's really my main goal with our garden; not wasting the food we're growing.

To that end, I grabbed some canning supplies, a premade mix of spices for making sweet relish, and pulled my big pots out from the back of the cabinets. I spent all yesterday morning working hard at the stove to make sure things would be good. The mix estimated that I'd get 5 quarts. I got 7.

So... merry christmas family! You're getting homemade relish for christmas!

First step after washing all the veggies was to chop the ends off and then cut the cucumber up into 1 inch pieces. You then food process those smaller pieces. My processor could only do 3-4 cucumbers at a time.

You then add pickling salt (special salt just for pickling, table salt and kosher salt will leave sediment, apparently), mix well, and let it chill in the fridge for 2 hours. After two hours, strain it to get rid of the liquid.

Then, you use white vinegar, sugar and the pickling spices and cook it for about 10 minutes at a simmer. Then you add the strained cucumber bits and boil for a bit.

Meanwhile, get the canning jars and lids nice and hot and fill them up with 1/2 headroom. Finger tighten the lids. Then set them back in the water bath and process for 15 minutes (we're pretty much at sea level, increase according to your altitude)

Pull them out to cool for 24 hours. Test the seal with the popper on the lid. If any can pop, refridgerate and use within a week. Otherwise, they have a shelf life of 1 year. I labeled the lids with the date and year so we know.

My next project is to make spaghetti sauce with all of our tomatoes and now that I've gone through one canning session with the equipment I have, I know what I need.  For one, a bigger pot. The other jars I have are all full pint size (the relish in in half pints) and my biggest pot will not get an adequate 1 inch of water above the pint jars. Also, the pot I ordered comes with a rack so I can drop the jars in all at once and it keeps them off the bottom of the pot to reduce clanking from the bubbles while boiling. I also snagged a bigger scoop for easier filling (I already have a funnel) and some dissolveable labels.

I'm excited!

Happy Gotcha Day Saffron!

Facebook politely reminded me that 2 years ago today I brought Saffron and Arwen home to Firefly.  Arwen has since gone to a new home where she is doing amazingly (I'm friends on facebook and see pictures!)

Saffron has blossomed with our little family. Without the maternal need to protect a baby that she was never properly weaned from, she bonded nicely with Gwyn and has begun to trust humans a bit more every day.

There are still holes in her handling that will come with time but looking back on where we started, where we had to push her onto the trailer and she was plainly terrified, where I didn't dare take off her halter in case I needed to catch her. Now she'll stand still and let me curry her and use a shedding blade. I can put medicine on her fly bites on her legs.  She's absolutely petrified of fly spray, but I use the fly spot stuff with her and drip it on her back and she's okay.  You can pet her all over. She has never once tried to bite me or the kids. We're still working on leading but she walks with me more than she resists and I've learned she's not above being bribed with treats to move.

She's a good donkey. I've grown attached to this sassy long ears.

WEG 2018!!!! And a neat product recommendation

I'm super excited!  Cheri and I are hoping to represent Stonewall Sporthorses and bring Gwyn and Nyx to North Carolina to the Tryon International Equestrian Center where the World Equestrian Games are being held.  It's a year and a half away, but planning needs to start! Woo!

Fuzzy bum

Snacks while I clean so they stay out of my hair

THE BEST ANIMAL PRODUCT EVER!

It's a curry comb glove.  I've heard from people with movement limitations like arthritis and ED that this is a great product for them because they don't have to grip a brush.  Our cats LOVE it.  Gwyn LOVES it.  Saffron is tolerant but she's really unsure of any grooming if she's not haltered and tied. Work in progress :)

You order it to size but I would recommend going up a size if possible. I'm an 8 usually and I ordered as such and it's a touch too tight for my personal preferences. My hand feels claustrophobic in this glove.  

Kaylee helping me.

"Mom, the small human is out there unattended. You sure?"

The tiniest human got her first floor time in the barn and had fun discovering hay. :D 

Kaylee helping feed.

Gwyn is such a fantastic critter with these kids.

Bye Goober! I have to go to work!

Fuzzy nose after our groundwork last week.

We learned kisses!

We've done some car shuffling since I started my job. As the truck is a lease I was putting miles on it WAY TOO FAST. So we pulled insurance off the truck, I got Eric's car and he got a nice new Volt, a hybrid electric.  So now I get to play "What fits into a Chevy Sonice from the farm store when you already have 2 car seats?"

Answer?

Definitely two, could have done 3 bags of pine shavings, a 50lb bag of horse feed, two 40 lb bags of pine pellets and a 40 lb bag of Stall Dry.

Farm store car tetris COMPLETE!

I couldn't see out the back though....

Safety first!

Weather Guesstimation

The big front pasture drains better than it used to... but we still have an ice skating rink.

I don't keep a hose attached in the winter (it's probably faster just lugging buckets, honestly)  But I can pretty accurately guess the temperature based on how easy it is to use this pump.  Does the handle lift easily? 25 deg F or warmer.  Is it a bit sticky? 15-25.

Do I really need to put my weight into it? Below 10.

Today it reached the 40s.  Everything is wet and my barn is flooded because the ground is still frozen enough that's there's no where for the water to go. Thank goodness the hay is off the ground.

It's also, thank you ridiculous weather, now a good time for maple sugaring. I am NOT ready! Noo!

Happy Samhain

The end of harvest and the beginning of winter is upon us. But I haven't posted here since the end of August!

We had lots of critter sightings.

My trailer has lots of fun bumper stickers!

And then I got all dressed up to go to a job interview!  (Part of why posting has been infrequent)

Taking advantage of the sun to dry some diapers.

Pony face who lost her fly mask.

HUGE grasshopper!

Boop!

Kaylee started school!

Velociraptor doesn't run away like he should.

Ponyface is good with my babies.

We throw up our heels too.

I did some organization in the barn in preparation for winter. Now all of my blankets have a place to hang up!

Smartpak sells these awesome over the edge bottle holders which are perfect for off the shelf fly spray and show sheen.

And I added more places to hang up pitchforks and my shovel.

Then we tackled the arena.  It was in a sorry state with plants growing everywhere. It was a mini Alder Tree nursery. 

But we got it churned up good!

Then dragged.

Next we'll be salting it periodically to prevent plant growth.

In October we did a few shows!

We even got a ribbon!

With minimal plants in the arena, it was a fun time to pretend to be a ghost.

And love on the donkeys in your life.

Taking naps is fun.

And we decorated for Halloween.

Fall colors and rain.

And it's starting to get cold. Ice in the water trough in the mornings.

And frost.

And our first snowfall! It barely stuck and melted nearly immediately. It was mixed with rain so was a generally cruddy day.

This past weekend we made a trip to Home Depot to make shelves and cavaletti. It was a warm day!

Someone can finally sit on her own and got to sit in the grass!

Handy husband.

Halloween trick or treating!

And naps!