My sister told me that this would be my year. I would have it made. All of my girls would be in school full time. I would finally have free time for myself. Then I had to go mess it up and buy a herd of goats. What in the world was I thinking???? She was right of course, she usually is!
But this weekend, we finished a project that will allow me a little more freedom from the beloved herd. A fence. A beautiful, well constructed, heavy duty, goat fence. Not that I am disillusioned enough to believe it will hold them in forever. But this evening, I'm pretty happy! I do NOT have to go put them away. Tomorrow, I will not have to let them out. They have a little "goat door" that they can enter and exit at will. Ah, bliss.
The goat dream has been with me for a long time, ever since my dad had goats when I was a little girl. But, Eric was never on board. This spring when we were on our way to go get my Grandma in Chicago, the dream was rekindled. We decided we'd take all back roads to get there. It took 14 hours. I know, it's really about an 8 hour drive. But there are a lot of farms, and things you can't see from the freeway! Along the way we decided that goats would be a good thing. I knew that if I didn't strike while the iron was hot, I'd be lost to the goat dream forever. So, when we got home I hurried up and did some research and some digging and I got Frank and Maggie from the Watsulas in Meadowlands. No fence, nothing really prepared. Dad bought the collars, the bells and the original tie outs for me to get started. If I had waited for a fence, we would never have gotten the goats. So, after all of that, five goats later, and now it's late September, we have a fence!!!
Luckily, Eric and I work well together. The fence took 16 hours to construct. It's not that big. My husband, to say the least, is a perfectionist. You probably won't be able to find a straighter fence line in all of St. Louis county. Or maybe the state. He has a crazy eye for this stuff. We were so very lucky to have my dad here to help. I just can't say enough about that man. He is such a trooper. He stood here with me and Eric and listened to our crazy ideas and the way that we thought things should go, and he kept his mouth shut. Dad built fences for years, and knew just how they should go, but he let Eric go on and on about how he wanted to do it. My dad is an amazing man. Dad and I sat on the pickup at one point and watched Eric tell the girls to sift through the dirt to put in the holes to pack around the corner posts. He was telling them to sift it in and pack it in gently. We were laughing that if we had built fences that way, we'd both still be on the farm building fences! I'd have never met Eric and we'd have buried all the animals... before the fences were done! haha. Even though Eric is a perfectionist, it pay off. The fence is gorgeous.
And, a big thank you to Uncle Marty (Eric's brother) for coming to help yesterday afternoon. He and I did a lot of the wrapping of wire onto the posts last night. It was a huge help to get that done quickly. Plus, he's so much fun. Eric really appreciated his help too.
On another note, last week was a tough one for me. My poor family. I had NOTHING good or nice to say, that's why you didn't see any posts from me. A really bad bout of PMS precluded me from saying a word. I bet my family and friends wish I had been silent too! haha.
I will be posting photos from the farm. New fence, new pics of the goats, pics of the girls. I let Kennedi take the camera so we'll see what that has on it.
News from the girls: Kennedi starts gymnastics this week. She's really quite good at it. She's in the top class this year. Maddie was in it the last few years, but this year she's not. She's not the most coordinated Johnson. Not as bad as me.... but.... She's holding out for ballet! ha. Lauren is still working on her play for the Fidgety Fairy Tales that will be traveling all over the Northland. Her first performance is at the Lowell School in Duluth on Friday.
I will be 35 next weekend! Gasp! I have great friends that will be taking me out on Friday night. Golf on Saturday, possibly out again Saturday night.... then who knows. I hope to make several days of it. I love that crap. Eric loves it too. Takes the pressure right off of him if my friends will do it and he can just stay home and watch kids. I'm ok with that.
Hope you're all enjoying the wonderful summer weather. I think this has been the best 3 weeks of summer.
Oh, here's a shout out (doesn't that sound stupid? I just had to say it though) to Mike of Pine Acres Fainting Goats for showing a few of his goats at a show a few weeks ago! He had some great success! Yay Mike! http://www.pineacresfainters.com/ on the opinion page. That's Tigo's original home.
Happy Sunday Night to you!!
But this weekend, we finished a project that will allow me a little more freedom from the beloved herd. A fence. A beautiful, well constructed, heavy duty, goat fence. Not that I am disillusioned enough to believe it will hold them in forever. But this evening, I'm pretty happy! I do NOT have to go put them away. Tomorrow, I will not have to let them out. They have a little "goat door" that they can enter and exit at will. Ah, bliss.
The goat dream has been with me for a long time, ever since my dad had goats when I was a little girl. But, Eric was never on board. This spring when we were on our way to go get my Grandma in Chicago, the dream was rekindled. We decided we'd take all back roads to get there. It took 14 hours. I know, it's really about an 8 hour drive. But there are a lot of farms, and things you can't see from the freeway! Along the way we decided that goats would be a good thing. I knew that if I didn't strike while the iron was hot, I'd be lost to the goat dream forever. So, when we got home I hurried up and did some research and some digging and I got Frank and Maggie from the Watsulas in Meadowlands. No fence, nothing really prepared. Dad bought the collars, the bells and the original tie outs for me to get started. If I had waited for a fence, we would never have gotten the goats. So, after all of that, five goats later, and now it's late September, we have a fence!!!
Luckily, Eric and I work well together. The fence took 16 hours to construct. It's not that big. My husband, to say the least, is a perfectionist. You probably won't be able to find a straighter fence line in all of St. Louis county. Or maybe the state. He has a crazy eye for this stuff. We were so very lucky to have my dad here to help. I just can't say enough about that man. He is such a trooper. He stood here with me and Eric and listened to our crazy ideas and the way that we thought things should go, and he kept his mouth shut. Dad built fences for years, and knew just how they should go, but he let Eric go on and on about how he wanted to do it. My dad is an amazing man. Dad and I sat on the pickup at one point and watched Eric tell the girls to sift through the dirt to put in the holes to pack around the corner posts. He was telling them to sift it in and pack it in gently. We were laughing that if we had built fences that way, we'd both still be on the farm building fences! I'd have never met Eric and we'd have buried all the animals... before the fences were done! haha. Even though Eric is a perfectionist, it pay off. The fence is gorgeous.
And, a big thank you to Uncle Marty (Eric's brother) for coming to help yesterday afternoon. He and I did a lot of the wrapping of wire onto the posts last night. It was a huge help to get that done quickly. Plus, he's so much fun. Eric really appreciated his help too.
On another note, last week was a tough one for me. My poor family. I had NOTHING good or nice to say, that's why you didn't see any posts from me. A really bad bout of PMS precluded me from saying a word. I bet my family and friends wish I had been silent too! haha.
I will be posting photos from the farm. New fence, new pics of the goats, pics of the girls. I let Kennedi take the camera so we'll see what that has on it.
News from the girls: Kennedi starts gymnastics this week. She's really quite good at it. She's in the top class this year. Maddie was in it the last few years, but this year she's not. She's not the most coordinated Johnson. Not as bad as me.... but.... She's holding out for ballet! ha. Lauren is still working on her play for the Fidgety Fairy Tales that will be traveling all over the Northland. Her first performance is at the Lowell School in Duluth on Friday.
I will be 35 next weekend! Gasp! I have great friends that will be taking me out on Friday night. Golf on Saturday, possibly out again Saturday night.... then who knows. I hope to make several days of it. I love that crap. Eric loves it too. Takes the pressure right off of him if my friends will do it and he can just stay home and watch kids. I'm ok with that.
Hope you're all enjoying the wonderful summer weather. I think this has been the best 3 weeks of summer.
Oh, here's a shout out (doesn't that sound stupid? I just had to say it though) to Mike of Pine Acres Fainting Goats for showing a few of his goats at a show a few weeks ago! He had some great success! Yay Mike! http://www.pineacresfainters.com/ on the opinion page. That's Tigo's original home.
Happy Sunday Night to you!!
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