Shopping and Jobs To Do and Arrangements...

Weeks 41/42

Plans need an endpoint so that the project doesn’t get silted up and stop. Our endpoint was a little moveable, in terms of dates, but was defined by what we wanted at the end – a usable safe shed and the replaced yards, ahead of winter, with added goat capabilities.

But in terms of dates, we knew that the one goat keeper we were buying from had a rough date for PDing the two females and that we would get them ASAP after that. The other goats, being male, and young, might be more able to camp in a less-than-finished shed.

Due to the difficulties caused by COVID of getting extra care for Mum, and the mad-house that was LLANTRA’s delivery of my transport qualies, I have been dependent on the other two breeders being able to deliver the boys.

This has now been arranged and if all goes OK the Anglo Nubian male will arrive with a whether Anglo Nubian male companion on Sat 24th Oct.

Jobs that won’t be achieved before the goats arrive are likely to be taking down the electric cable and getting hedges whacked back and then the cables and fencing put back.

Gordon has a couple of quiet days work-wise and helper James can come back in a fortnight and, we hope, we have the orders in for the last of the sundry items we need – things like extra rubber mats for the floor as I use shavings for bedding. Also, hurdles and hay racks, as we have no left-over ones, and things like that.

When I had goats here before we had one pony who was well used to goats – we now have two lived-here-for-all-their-16-years ponies who have never seen a goat up close. They are used to sheep and deer. I am not intending they ever get left alone together but they will be sharing the barn if not the same pen.

The experiences I have of having stock all my life is that there are transferable skills but that the individual species have separate needs to thrive and flourish and the combo of ponies – who are well armed – and goats who are much less so will have to be handled with care.

Meanwhile

I am back cleaning out chickens and stacking manure in the garden 🙂 And it’s raining 🙂 My waterproofs aren’t so am about to attempt to reproof an old motorcycle jacket and my ‘fishing’ dungarees – hopefully without jamming up the washing machine!!! (It didn’t jam and they are now at least showerproof 🙂 ) I then went into the garden and pottered around in there.