New Years' Resolutions

Hi All!

Sorry I have been gone for so long, sometimes life gets ahead of you and it takes some time to catch up.  Due to some financial restrictions there hasn't been too much DIY at the house.  But that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! Since I last wrote to you all both Harley and Ellie have had surgery to remove some unwanted items, the goats have both had their copper bolus, the tree house has fallen down, and Harley has gotten skunked.  Our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years has come and gone.  And we continue to plan crazy new ideas for 2013.

So here is my list of New Year's Resolutions... Don't laugh at me because it is February, like I said we have been busy!

1. I want to put up a blog post every week.  Even if it is just to say hi, I want to connect with you guys and let you know what we are planning.
2. I will finally get those hyper links to work at the top of the blog.  Someone please send over an IT genius because I really have no idea how to do it.
3. I am hoping we have the land on our property clear of all brush, debris, and fallen tree houses by Spring.
4. Chicken coop and at least 6 chickens.
5. I hope to of at least have found a stud for one of the goats and to have our First Freshener by early 2014.
6. Finally finish painting the interior of the house (includes removing chicken wallpaper from the kitchen).
7. I plan to put new trim around all the windows and doors, new baseboards, and crown molding in the house.
8. I would also like the wood paneling in the living room removed.
9. Some new living room furniture would be nice!
10. Last but certainly not least, I hope to have a summer vegetable garden and actually eat from it!

I know this is a pretty ambitious list, but let's see where we are at next January (February) 2014!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

~Blue Antler Farm

Dirty Water

Disaster has struck AGAIN!  Thank goodness we still have our home warranty, because problems keep creeping up.

Both times it has had to do with our plumbing.  About a month ago, any time water went down a drain, such as the laundry washer, kitchen sink, toilet, bathroom sink, etc, it would flow right through and out the overflow and into our bathtub!  Brown stinky water!  So we couldn't go to the bathroom, wash our dishes, take a shower, or do the laundry for about a week in fear that the water would flood the bathtub and end up on our floor.  Turns out that roots have taken over our plumbing.  And of coarse, because we take a picture of everything, here is a picture of the dirty roots and the mess the plumber made of my laundry room floor.

Believe it or not, the plumber created a bigger mess.  He was a little aggressive with the roto-rooter and cracked our pipe in the garage.  So this time, instead of water flowing into our bathtub, it poured right onto the garage floor.  Nasty, smelly, brown, and greasy water.  The water has since dried, but there is an oily film all over the garage floor.  I have no idea how to clean that up.  Suggestions?

Look at what the Plumber did!

I was fairly certain that I was in the clear with these plumbing problems, but oh no!  Here comes another one!

This last weekend we walk into our bathroom and the floor is completely wet and flooded.  Where was the water coming from this time?  The toilet.

So I did the only thing I could do, called the warranty people and had a glass of wine.

Botched Batches

So last January, I made a batch of soap and it came out so silky smooth!  The Hubby and I have been loving using it in our showers and smelling so sweet.  The ingredients I used are coconut oil, palm oil, soybean oil, olive oil, and beeswax.  Doesn't that sound amazing?  And it smelled lovely, like oatmeal and honey.

Did you know that Glycerin (made naturally during the soap-making process) is worth more than a bar of soap?  So the large soap makers take the natural glycerin out of their soap, sell it, and then sell you a bar of soap without it! They make out like bandits, selling two products from one process.  When you make your own home-made soap you keep all that glycerin to help smooth and moisturize your skin.

If you take the 20-30 minutes to make your own soap, you will have enough for about 6 months, you will smell great, and your skin will feel SO soft.  This generally costs us somewhere around 3 dollars a bar of soap. Which seems like a lot if you are comparing it to something you buy at Target, but the quality is closer to a luxurious bar from France which would run you anywhere around 6-12 dollars a bar.

A picture from my last successful batch

But unfortunately, this post is not about what a wonderful soap-maker I am.  It is about the virtue of patience and how I don't have it.

We were down to the last few bars of soap so I bought all the ingredients I needed, suited-up and started my cold-process soap. I began by carefully measuring my oils and heating them up.  While they were getting to temperature I started to prepare my lye.  Lye makes me nervous.  It is one of the most caustic materials on the planet and you need to treat it carefully.  Unfortunately, when I get nervous, I get stupid.

For example, I know that the oils has to be around 120-140 degrees when you add the lye.  And even though I have a thermometer clearly telling me it is 180 degrees,  I still added the lye so I could be done with it.  It immediately started to get stiff, almost seizing, so I poured it into my molds.

I pulled out my vinegar to clean my work site and when I returned to my soap it looked like a throbbing volcano.  It was growing and bursting in the middle.  I was actually worried that it was going to grow and expand right out of the molds and onto my table, which would not of been good because it takes a few hours for all the lye to be converted to soap.  At least it didn't look like this.  What a mess!

This is after it had cooled down and my little volcano collapsed

So I tossed my whole batch and will try again next weekend.

The Truth about Home Ownership

So I know everyone told us this, but this first year of home-ownership has been tough financially.  Kevin and I had gotten used to having that little nest egg to fall back on.  It gave us peace of mind, that if something should happen we were going to be okay.  

Well, that little nest egg basically became our house.  And every last dime we have gets put into the house.  I am not complaining, that is just my reality.  And to be honest I don't mind.  Because for that last few nights I get to close my days looking at this and it reminds me that it is all worth it!

Goat Antics

I wanted to post some pictures of my little farm family on the sidebar to the right here.  So I went out to take some recent pictures of the goats.  This is not an easy task!  To take a picture you need to stand back around 3-4 feet, which is impossible with goats!  They want to be touching you and be near you at all times, so you end up with pictures like these:

Obnoxious isn't it?

So I would try to push them away with my hand.  Here are some decent shots:

Nice one of Butters face and Oreo's butt

And they don't look at you like dogs, so I got a ton of shots of them looking in the other direction:

What's so interesting?

Here is my one decent shot:

So if you want to tell them apart, Oreo is black and white with a red collar.  Butters is black and cream with a purple collar.  Butters also has cooler looking eyebrows than Oreo.

My Sweet Poppy

I know I have been absent for while, but we have had one crazy and emotionally draining week.

Kevin and I have two beautiful dogs, Ellie and Harley.  They were one of the main reasons we bought our little farm.  We wanted them to have the space to run and stretch their legs.

Our Sweet Baby Girl Ellie

Our Good Ol' Bear Harley

Well, we had all this space and we wanted to give back the love our dogs shared with us.  So we volunteered to be a foster home for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

When we got the call that a Cavalier girl named Poppy needed a home we jumped in the car and drove 3 hours to pick her up.  On the way up, all excited, Kevin and I discussed all the things we were going to do with the new foster, take her for walks, to Fort Funston, meet children, go the park, etc.  

When we picked her up, she was nothing like we were expecting.  She was sad.  So very sad.  Her whole life got turned upside down and she didn't want to interact with us.  If we talked to her, she looked away.  If we reached to pet her, she cowered into a corner.  She barely walked, and only took about 10 steps at a time.

But despite this sad demeanor, she was starting to see us as family.  She wagged her tail slightly when we talked to her.  And she started to perk up when we got closer to her.  She was becoming my foster baby.  The Cavalier spirit was still alive in her and she was starting to open up and trust us.

And then the most horrible thing happened, she disappeared.  

We had moved our dogs outside for the cleaning lady.  She is afraid of dogs (especially Harley) and requested that they go outside so they are not in her way.  I put Harley and Poppy in our shaded yard.  Made sure that the gates were closed and locked and then took Ellie to her Nosework class.  Harley and Poppy were alone for maybe 1/2 an hour.  When we got back Harley was alone in the yard with the gates and doors still closed.  We still have not figured out how Poppy got out.

The pain of a lost pet is quite unbearable.  Wondering where she is.  Is she lost or stolen?  Is she out in the street or in someone's home?  Is she alive or dead?  How did she get out?  Who took her?  What can I do to get her back?

I would lay awake at night thinking about her.  Wanting her home and under my roof, safe and warm.  I would think of things I could be doing to find her.

I cried. 

But I am a woman of action, so I didn't sit wondering what happened.  Here is a list of things I did.  Hopefully, if you have lost a pet, you might find it helpful.

1. Make large signs to be placed in front of your home.  At first, I hand-wrote them on fluorescent boards, but I replaced them with professional looking printed corrugated poster boards with large pictures. I also placed one at the near-by park.  (These were what eventually brought our Poppy  home).
2. Buy window chalk and use your car as a moving flyer.  Just in case your dog gets outside your neighborhood, this expands your visibility.  I used a bright white marker.
3. Call your local radio station and TV stations.  They might do a public announcement.  They did for Poppy.  The local paper also volunteered to run an ad for her.
4. Get your flyers in all the vet hospitals in the area.  I did it in the three surrounding cities.
5. Get your flyers in the local supermarket, coffee shops, pet stores, and surrounding schools.
6. Use the internet: Get attention with Facebook, Pet Amber Alert, Pet Harbor, Fido Finder, Craigslist, etc.
7. Drop-off flyers in all your neighbor's mailboxes.
8. Check the shelters, make a missing pet report, and leave flyers.
9. Hire a private pet detective (I give this one mixed reviews, but it is worth a shot).
10. Did I mention posting flyers around your neighborhood?  I know I mentioned flyers a lot, but you have to cover every angle.
11. DON'T GIVE UP!  

8 Days later, my husband announced he would be right back.  About 10 minutes later he walked through the door with Poppy in his arms.  Our neighbor had seen our sign by the park and when she woke on Sunday morning Poppy was sitting in her front yard.  I immediately began crying tears of joy and whisked Poppy to the Emergency Vet.  They gave her fluids and cleaned out her eyes.  She had collected dirt, leaves, and debris in her eyes, but she was okay.  They sent her home with antibiotics, eye drops, and a cone.  

I was a little worried that this adventure of hers would set her back, but it didn't seem to.  She still sees Kevin and me as her foster parents.  And we love her for it.

Isn't she beautiful?  She will be ready for adoption soon!

One Disgusting Story

I was telling this story to my co-worker and she told me that I had to include this one on the blog.  So for everyone who feels like getting squeamish, please read on  If not, you may want to skip this one.  This is your warning.

As you know, I was in charge of doing all the chores this last weekend which included changing out all the fly and yellow jacket traps.  So I found a shovel and started to dig a hole in the dry hard earth.  This is not exactly an easy chore for me.  I dug and dug and barely broke ground.  So I grabbed the post digger and used that.  Meanwhile, Harley is watching me dig.

So, when I got about 8-10" hole, which is barely big enough, I grabbed the fly traps and emptied the contents into my hole.  So now this hole is full of mostly dead fly bodies, maggots, and few live ones.  I quickly buried them up and walked away to clean the traps and set them up again.

BIG MISTAKE

When I walked past my fly burial ground, I saw Harley, my doberman, digging them all up and the few live ones are flying everywhere.  SHIT!

I called him away and cursed myself for not putting him into the house.

I continued cleaning out the traps and setting new ones, when from the corner of my eye I see a white furry body rolling happily in the dirt.

There was Ellie, my sweet clean white Cavalier girl, rolling all over the dead fly bodies that Harley had just dug up.  I screamed at her to stop, but my screams were falling on deaf ears.  Once she was done, she happily pranced over to me all gray and black with dead fly parts and wings hanging off her.  UGH!

So I did what any good Cavalier Mother would do, I told my hubby to please give her a bath.

YUCK!