At Home- New and Old.

  Our move is getting closer- Paul's final day at his job here in TN is February 10th.  So sometime in the week after we will load up a truck and the animals and make our new place a home.

But there is a lot to be done still before we can move. Mostly involving the animals. Slowly we have been making progress on fencing a yard that will initially be home to our 5 goats. 

Sometime between now and March we will fence and build a second shelter for the girls- who we hope are pregnant, but we haven't confirmed it- and their babies to move into.  A larger place in the more permanent pasture with an area for milking.  Scooter, Scout and Thor will stay in this first yard. I am so happy to finally be able to separate them- Bella, and Bertie especially, are huge bullies to the little boys- who are not at all very assertive. So it will be nice for them not to be attacked while they are trying to eat or get treats.

We also have to find a place for the chickens. There is an old coop on the property- which is leaning off it's foundation and has a tree pushing it over as well. Paul, Rylan and Cale are over there today working and on their list is to see what we can do to salvage this building. (So far I think he has managed to jack it up and reset the blocks under it). It will need some work to make it safe against predators, but hopefully it will be sufficient until we get a big barn built and a coop within.

 

Our main project right now is the shelter for the goats. Our building material of choice are wood pallets we have rounded up from around town and from Paul's work. We started it a couple weeks and Paul and the boys are over today trying to finish. Although it is slow going with only one adult.  The end result will be 10' x 10' and about 8 ft tall.

The weather this winter has been really mild- the boys took a break last week to do some driving practice. Rylan received a set of golf clubs for Christmas (Thanks, Uncle Billy!) and they lined up and hit the many, many golf balls they have found all over the yard. 

 Annika enjoyed 'helping' with the building.

And here at home, we've been slowly getting things packed up. Annika, who always steals crayons, has been coloring on all of the boxes. 

Again, the weather has been really nice...I wouldn't mind at least a little snow, but since the daffodils are about to bloom that might not be a good thing. 

And school...

Chinese New Year writing assignment

and craft...

Today I am home with my 3 littlest. They are enjoying being in charge for once- and enjoying the house of boxes we built in the corner.

linked to the Homestead Barn Hop  and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways