The Goats Hate their Hut so.....

Belle and Lacie are 6 months old already!

So far this winter the only time I can get the goats into their hut is when it's raining or snowing.   I've tried locking them in at night but they hate it so much that the next night they won't come near me for fear of being locked in again.  Any other time they're right at your side.  It can rain all day or be snowy and if it's stopped at night, even though the ground is wet they sleep outside on the wet ground.   It makes me crazy.   

So today I drove a couple of T posts into the ground and hung a tarp for a little bit of shelter.   I figure it  has to be better than nothing.    I added an entire bale of hay on the ground for bedding and put their feeders in there to encourage them to use it.

They were sure that big green tarp was really some kind of toy.   I'm not real sure if it will last all that long but at least I'll know before I build another more permanent structure if they will actually use it this time.

When I was putting the feeders on the fence I was surprised that it was noticeably warmer under the tarp.   With all that hay to snuggle down in they should be more comfortable.

I put boards along the bottom and then covered it with 18" of leaves to help with the wind.  Lacie isn't at all sure about going in at this point.   On...yes.  In....not so much.

After we went in the house they decided to give it a try.    I think if they don't tear it down trying to  play on it they'll use this alot more than they have the goat hut.

Happy New Years!

Elizabeth

Missing blogger found and back on job

Soft leather covered handmade journal

I love blogging but sometimes I get caught up in life away from the computer and have a hard time finding my way back.    Hope everyone has had a great fall and Thanksgiving.

I have always had a love of books and lately that interest in has expanded to include bookmaking and bookbinding.   The journal above was my first experience in making a book from start to finish; choosing paper and cover materials, making signatures, deciding on the appropriate binding style and then sewing it all together.  

Scrapbook and some tags 

I've also been working on a scrap book for Malia.   I have been making it from an altered book and will share what  I we, did when it's done.  For anyone with kids I think you'll really enjoy it.   It took on a life of it's own and became a wonderful experience that let us relive the memories of pictures included while making it into something both meaningful and fun at the same time.  

Vintage photo of my grandmother and grandfather 

Sometime around 1920 my grandmother married a young man from Italy and being the great cook she was she took on the task of learning to cook all things italian as if she too came from Italy.  Thanksgiving tradition in her home, which was where I spent every Thanksgiving was based on vast quantities of scrumptous homemade italian foods.   Handmade raviolis & pastas, meats that had cooked in various italian sauces for hours and hours.   Side dishes, like more traditional Thanksgiving feasts, were plentiful and delicious but not what you would typically find on most tables.    Desserts were rum cakes and italian cookies and lots of pies.    

Some years I will still have italian Thanksgivings.   Nothing to rival my Nana's that's for sure.   This will as a rule leave me with the need to make a turkey a week after everyone else is finishing up their leftovers.   My 25 lb bird is in the oven as I sit here blogging.   I just can't pass up a good sale on turkey.   

Thanks Victoria for getting me here today!

Elizabeth

A Tiny Homestead Hop # 2

Your Invited to join in on our second

A Tiny Homestead Blog Hop!

To join all you need do is enter your best homestead related blog post of the past 2 weeks below.  It can be any thing to do with your homestead; animals, recipes, gardening, tips, crafts, whatever you've posted about that will be inspiring to other like minded folks.     

 Entries will be open for 2  weeks.  

When we get enough involvement I hope to move them to weekly with a featured blog from each linky.

It's always fun to find new blogs to go visit and what a great way to get your blog more exposure and visitors and maybe make some new friends along the way.

Hope you'll join in!

Elizabeth

Things to Think About if Your Kids Go Off in the Woods By Themselves

If you've been following the goat saga you know Malia's been anxious to take the baby goats for a walk through the woods to the creek.   We used to do it with our big goats and it was always fun.

I was in the middle of a project so she headed off without me.  About an hour after she left she came in and said she thought she had hurt her arm falling on a log.  She's never been a whiny kid about a scrape or a cut so I knew if she said she was hurt she was hurt.   The arm was swelling so to the ER we went.   Broken in 2 places.

I am not one to be afraid to let her go off to explore on her own within a certain distance from the house.   I think we live in a safe place and although anything could happen more than likely she's safe in the woods behind our house.  At least from human predators.    Snake bites and falls are another matter entirely.

I have a 3 rules about her going off by herself in the woods and I think they worth sharing.

1.   Wear boots.   If she wants to take flip- flops for when she gets to the creek, fine but we've seen more than a few copperheads and high rubber boots like English Wellies are fine.  She has an adorable pair of black boots with neon polka dots we got at Tractor Supply.  She wears them many times with a denim skirt when we go to town because they're cute.   With girls, not ugly, can be a biggie.

2.  Take a 2 way radio with you.   They can be bought pretty inexpensively today.   I think we paid about $30 for ours.  Amazon is my go-to place for checking ratings on things like that so I can buy inexpensively and have what I need and still get a decent product.

3.   Use something for bug protection.   We've been using the Cutter product that is a combination of Avons Skin So Soft plus some deet.   There is so much West Nile Virus in some places it's prudent to use something if you are off in an area that is sure to loaded with mosquitos.

Parenting today is hard.  "Don't be a helicopter parent but be involved".  "Let them make their own decisions; just be there to guide".  "Natural consequences are best".

It's hard to know when and where to make a stand sometimes but these are my rules for the woods.   The little girl down the lane doesn't have to wear boots in the woods but Malia' does.   Oh well.

Today could have been worse, much worse but she had a way to reach me even from a 1/2 mile away.  We never think these things will really happen, but they do.  And if you live near woods you know voices don't carry as well as you might think.

 In fact, she didn't call me.   She came home and penned up the goats before coming in the house to tell me.  Not a tear one.  An apology for making me have to take her to the ER.   I wished she had called me but I was so proud of her.  She's so level headed and she was anything but dramatic about it.   Still, had it been a leg and she couldn't get herself home she had the means to reach me.   And I am even more grateful we have the rules in place that we do.  We just never ever know.

Tomorrow we call the hand / arm specialist and she gets to go to school with a story to tell all the kids.

Elizabeth

Altered Book = Handmade Journal - Part 2

Completed cover for my altered book

I did a post on on this altered book a few weeks back but I didn't have the cover completed.   Finally got some time to do that today.

I work on the floor a lot.  I had a number of things I thought about using and didn't.

Here's what I learned doing this one today.   Lay out what you think you want to use and place it on the cover where you think you want it before you started sewing or gluing anything.  Take a picture when you finally get it the way you want it.   That way you can do things in the correct order because it's layered.  I forgot the order and did one layer too soon and it changed my final lay-out.   

After my cover was all sewn....I already had the book covered in burlap and just needed to sew the wrap of black material with the laces and fabric flowers etc... I attached it using pvc glue to the burlap.

I use these clips a lot to hold things together while glue sets and dries.  

I was happy with the finished journal.

This is another one I had shown in the last post about handmade journals.   I had the cover made but not put on the chip board yet.   I am using this as my budget book and needed it to be expandable.  I have pocket in it for bank statements, bills, I made checkbook registers the size of the book and as well as ledger pages.  The medallion on the cover has the serenity prayer on it.... fits with budgeting many months.

 After doing a book put together with rings and an altered book I prefer the altered book in the end.  Altered books are certainly more work but I like the finished product enough to do it that way again. 

I am going to start on the family album next as an altered book.  I am so excited to do that one with the amazing fabric and stones!

Elizabeth  

Edited 9/4/12  -

I'm including a picture of the original book as I've gotten a number of questions about it.   It was covered in burlap first and then the inner book was redone with new paper, pictures and embellishments that were meaningful to me.  The last step was the cover.