Our Easter Jellybean

Happy Easter y'all. I know I've been M.i.a and now you know why :) Morning sickness, tenderness, and general fatigue have pretty much ruled me lately. 

I'm hoping to get back on a schedule soon because we still have a bunch to do before summer comes to kill me with unbearable heat. I will have another post for y'all later this week. Our farmily is expending by five beaks! Baby duckies are just the cutest so I'm excited. Alright y'all it's nap time for me so keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar

Random Dog

So the white dog and the brindle boxer are just neighborhood dogs. I named the boxer Lady and have even taught her to sit and come. She also knows "up" but only when treats are involved :)

This little white pup decided that it wanted into our yard so he squeezed himself in via the larger wire in our gate. 

The goats immediately introduced themselves.

Of course, Mr. Beckendorff went right in for a butt sniff, haha dogs.

This is in our shed. He wanted to hide out while I was mowing. 

I thought about keeping him, so I pulled him out of the shed so he could acclimate himself with the scary lawn mower sounds. Once out of the safety of the shed he left me:( I guess the engine noise was just too much. Oh well. He is a darling little thing but a bit too fluffy for our taste. 

Green, clean, classy

Shalimar 

Goat Coop

The pictures explain most of the steps but I will give a walk through.

We started with our dog's bed frame. He had a crib mattress for size comparison. That's a good size for one goat but we have two and plans for maybe more:) so we built another the same size and put those babies together.

Next we raised the frame up because goats like to have height. 

Look at those cuties exploring the coop already.

We moved it into place before it got too heavy.

We used that wire for the floor, 16 gauge I believe.

We attached the wire with u-shaped nails. Next was to build up the frame for the walls and roof.

It isn't the biggest thing so a couple of 45 supports in the corner worked just fine.

We put roofing plywood down before the sheet metal to help hold more heat in the winter.

Web left these small diagonal openings for a breezeway to help cool it in the summer.

To protect the "window" openings from rain we put a board of hardiplank up

This is the flashing that needs to be put down before the sheet metal.

The seams and screws got siliconed.

Ta da, that's the front with the wider flashing because the roof drops down in the back. If it were angled the opposite the larger flashing would have been in the back. That makes sense, right?

Ok folks that's all I've got for y'all now. Hope you enjoyed the post, our goats just love having a place of their own and with all the rain we have been getting the coop has been their hideaway. 

Green, clean, and classy

Shalimar

Play Find Mr. Beckendorff

I was out enjoying this Texas weather (not really, lately Texas has been kind of bi-polar with swings from cold to humid and it's been gray for what feels like forever) but I digress.
As soon as I leave the deck I'm surrounded by animals...the trick to winning a chickens love is a pocketful of seed. Normally Mr. Beckendorff doesn't mind the chickens and vice versa but this time he didn't want to be bothered.

Iolaus disbudding healing

Iolaus is a great joy to ours lives and I'm happy to report that the disbudding sites are healing nicely.
After watching him scratch and rub at his scabs for about a week I slightly aided him in the removal of the scabs. They had gotten lose around the edges and seemed to really bother him. Just like when we lose a scab it's not completely healed at the center. You will notice it looks a little bloody but much improved.

Flash forward to no scab at all. Hooray

The sites are getting smaller and smaller and I'm so excited to see them close completely. 

Green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar 

Hardiplank continues

Here's more of the hardiplank that we have been working on.

We used a blade for hardiplank, but we plan to try an alternative ... thinking just razor blade and then snap the cut area. This stuff early breaks and the blade was a twenty dollar joke. 

Of course we had a cute little helper.

He really loved the tar paper and ended up laying on it for a quick nap while we worked.

I also like the tar paper, well the look of it. It got me thinking maybe painting the finished siding black? ... 

Well, that's all I have for now. Y'all keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar 

Sir Sainic hails from Bensalot, son of Regal.

For those of you honored enough to meet Sir Sainic, I have terrible news. Last week Sainic was called to meet his maker. His soul is now free to roam not just our homestead but the universe. 

To my love, my heart, my soul you will always be remembered and the memories cherished. He was my rock when life felt unsteady. He was my big baby in the cold. He was my Sir Sainic. 

Rest in peace my friend, I love you.