And so it begins... end of summer and the start of something beautiful... sorta.

The horses are shedding their summer coats. Already. I guess it isn't surprising, they did it around this time last year, too.... but this year it has been so hot and it seems like we are still in the middle of summer. I think the horses enjoyed their summer break, even if two of the three hated the heat. But the heat seems to have broke and it's a lot more pleasant out there so back to work we go.



They are clearly ready for more attention and cuddles:



Good timing, too, because the goats are starting to stink. Well, Parsley is, anyway, and he is rubbing off on the girls. So I can spend a little less time herding goats and a little more driving horses.

It's the start of the breeding season and romance is in the air. And anyone who has been around a buck goat in rut knows what "romance" smells like. It reeks. the girls have virtually no odor at all. But boy oh boy does a buck make up for that! Bucks are single handledly responsible for the reputation goats have for being smelly. Goats are NOT smelly. Does and wethers have less odor to their pen than my horses do, and a lot less than many other kinds of livestock like chickens and pigs. But bucks... they make enough aroma for the entire species.

Parsley's attempts at sweet talking the girls are finally starting to work.



But that doesn't stop him from wanting time with his people:



See the wet looking areas of his face? yeah... if you are a goat person you already know what that is. If you are not a goat person, you don't want to know. I feel so bad because he really wants his usual pets and scritches but his musky smell sticks to everything and is almost impossible to get rid of so I am not real keen to spend a lot of time grooming him. The smell, honestly, doesn't bother me a bit. But I don't think anyone else wants to smell it and I'd hate to go to the grocers reeking of rutting goat musk. As much as I am hoping for a doe out of him and Sage I will be glad when he is wethered and can just be a pet.

He is getting a thick beard and a lovely ridge of hair down his back that I call his mohawk:



I tried to get video of him blubbering and talking to the girls because it is so funny... but he didn't cooperate. Instead I just got a picture of him sticking his tongue out:



This part of the process isn't so beautiful... funny and somewhat disgusting but not beautiful. The beautiful part comes 5 months after the smelly romance when we get, hopefully, babies. By the time the babies are born he won't be a buck anymore and he will be in driving training with the horses, hehe!

Now I am going to start looking for a buck for next year.

Oh, and a job. I'm also looking for a job.

Rendezvous 2010

I'm tired, and I have a bit of a headache, and I am thirsty for something carbonated but we have no soda in the house and at almost 9pm I am feeling way too lazy to go somewhere to get anything. I'm also having a very hard time typing coherently so please cut me a tad bit of slack on any typos. *grin*

This weekend was our gun club's annual Rendezvous. Some of you may remember last year, which was the first time I got to stay out there, and I loved it. This year I made a custom gourd to donate for a prize at the shoot, and best of all... Tiffany got to go with us!!! In the past Tiffany has missed out on... basically everything... because she spent every weekend and vacation and all but a hand full of days close to big holidays at her dad's. She decided she wanted to come with when she went to the gun show earlier this year, and i figured she could come friday night and if she was miserable she could house sit the critters the rest of the weekend. She ended up staying all weekend.

So first, the gourd I made to donate as a prize for the shoot. Our club is known as "The Clan Of The Wolverine":



They call up each of the winners and top several shooters and they get to go to the prize table and select what they want. The guy who took my gourd is a member of our club, Gary. SUPER nice guy. He came over after and told me he had been wanting it since he saw it with the other prizes. That made me feel pretty awesome.

So, one great thing is that I made about $4 more than i spent. WHEEE! And I spent, well... quite a bit!

Tiff watched the dogs for us thursday night, and came out with us friday after we dropped the dogs off at grandma's house. I didn't get any pictures of her in the shirt I made for her, but I did get some of the hat she decorated and the short sleeved shirt we got her. It was HOT. HUMID. Did I mention HOT?



Tsu, using the blow tube to get the fire going while his dad Fred watches:



We set up in a totally different area from last year, more out in the open so I would get more traffic by my trade blanket.



Some shots of the camp:







Our camp is the tent with the back facing the drive, with what looks like a white patch on the back (that is actually a little flap covering a hole to run a chimney out if we want a camp stove in there):



Tiff seemed to settle in pretty well. She opted for shorts the first day because... did I mention it was FREAKIN' HOT?



After i sold a few gourds (including one I wasn't sure anyone but me would like, that was bought by a member of our club, Trapper John, who is going to be teaching the trapping class we are going to take at the end of september) Tiff and I went shopping. The lady who sells clothes out there is so sweet! We picked out outfits from some she had made a whole ago, and she looked through the stack of stuff we selected and said we should pay her $30. When I added up everything she sold it to us at about half price! Tiff and i both got nice dressy outfits. I have NO pictures of myself from this weekend at all, but I do have some of Tiff in her dress:



and making a goofy face:



Since there were more people than room in the lodge Tiff and I borrowed my in-law's tent. We thought 1/4 mile away from the guys was a good distance to avoid having the snoring keep us awake (actually, that is where the modern area was, and... it was in the shade).



Oh, random... I bought a pair of wooden shoes:



So... there was a lady there weaving sashes. I expressed interest in the process so she not only explained it but actually showed me, on her "inkle loom", how to do the whole thing... then let me weave my own little sash!!



OH MY GOSH, I loved this. It was sooooo fun, and I just loved it! She said I should send her my email, and she would send me plans to have my own floor loom built. She also bought one of my gourds and I sold it to her for half price for teaching me about the weaving. She was a really neat lady. She also showed me how to make this twisted fringe:



check this out, isn't it cool?



While I was weaving the guys were shooting...

Tsu:




Fred (father in law):


Troy (brother in law):


I got those pictures right quick before running back to talk to the lady about the loom and weaving.

It was fun and Tiff did great, but by this morning the heat was wearing us all down. Cooking over an open fire in this heat was a real trip. We also had our club meeting today, so my dad came out and we cooled off in the club house then as soon as the meeting was over we packed and headed home. I brought Tiff home, she hopped into the shower while i went to get the dogs from grandma's. I think they were glad to see me, lol. The guys finished up packing while I did that since my car was full and there was not that much I could do aside from the running to get the dogs (plus Tiff was worn out and i wanted to end the weekend on a good note for her). We still have to get the dog's crates from the in-law's house since we were out of room, and I have a HUGE stack of laundry to do.

So... i got a bunch of new clothes (Will get pictures to post later), wooden shoes, and may have developed a new addiction (weaving) and now... now I need some sleep.

Adventures in Homesteading: canning

Guess what I did today? I canned for the first time!

I got a bunch of tomatoes from my dad and a packet of salsa spices from the canning section at Wal-mart, then used the instructions on the back of the packet in combination with my handy dandy Ball "Guide To Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration".

After blanching, skinning, chopping, spicing, boiling, simmering, canning, boiling water bath processing I ended up with these:



My hard water left a layer of calcium on the jars. *sigh* Before long all but THIS SHAMEFUL LAZY JAR had sealed. *points accusingly at lazy jar*



I suspect it has something to do with it being a different type lid. I think I will stick to the Ball lids as much as possible.

Then as I was putting those pictures into the computer lazy jar decided to seal.

Rings removed, lids and jars wiped down, ready to sit on a shelf for months at a time until i get munchies and have tortilla chips handy:



YAY! I only have, like, an hour per jar invested. lol. But I had fun, and it was an excuse to wear an apron and a kerchief all day. OK, i wasn't actually wearing a kerchief but I kinda wish i had been. lol.