End of the month already.... and end of august and as I type this it is still raining. It feels like it's done nothing but rain since June. It's making it very hard to get jobs done like spray the sheep with the fly repellent. It needs enough time to dry and not get rinsed off!
It also feels like plague after plague, slugs and snails, we've had sickness through the cats, skin irritations on the dogs. At some point I'm sure everything is going to be at full health but it has been a daily battle recently.
Due to the warm and wet the grass across the gardens has grown long, to tackle each area is a twice trimming job followed by mowing several times, and even then it needs doing after that within the week. I am yet to get on top of each area, and I think I may have to admit defeat if it doesn't stop raining soon. The high winds have split some willow trees and high rainfall one day that I can only describe as biblical has washed away some of our track as well as helping itself into my house let Monday, novel to have a trickle of water from an internal door frame out the front door!
The Barn Build
I made the decision to build the barn out of stone not concrete blocks therefore saving several £1,000's. Thankfully we have so much of it lying around going unused. Some stones have been moved and I'm currently marking out the barn area. This job isn't going to be fast however it will last, and it will be sustainable, becoming a crowning glory for us. I've said before that our one major compromises was buying a place without any real suitable out buildings for livestock. Everything else we have is made of wood and in this ongoing wet weather it becomes harder and harder to paint each year to keep it all standing and protected.
The barn project also has resulted in another offer coming in of collaboration from a friend and fellow business owner. A local cheese maker who has goats currently has asked if we can take on his milking goats, do the milking and then he buys milk direct from us to supply his cheese making business! This would free him up to build on the success he has already had. We of course already have our goat herd well established and they form not only a part of the soap business but also our courses which we run each year.
Well we did have to chat about it of course, could we do it? I mean the barn isn't built yet, I'm already busy. Although some of the time consuming jobs have been the rebranding of the soap business, so when thats all done do I then have the time? Well I'll be milking anyway, I need to, I must. That was the whole point of it all. At the moment I've got a freezer with loads already bagged up but that will reduce as I make more soap and left as things are with buildings going up and temporary ones in place I'd probably go for the easy option and let my girls dry up. Not ideal as I'm spending money to feed them and with unexpected kids this year it's worth getting back into it. So we agreed. Of course we did.
On the cards now is a temporary building needs buying to house the dairy girls and to give me a space to milk. It will go where it is best for now whilst the barn is built. The billy goats and then the others will all have their current temporary housing until the barn is ready. My new temporary building will then be added to the new barn to make it a permanent addition, it should offer me the ideal add on, an extension. More space to separate girls with kids and maybe a sick bay because that is always needed with any animal. We will have a dairy fitted and a bathroom for us to use and general use, hot and cold water as well as all the goat supplies under one roof. As its stands now we've had Hannah and Heidi finally birth three kids each, three boys and three girls across both them both. The kidding wasn't intentional breeding, another reason to ensure we add some more distance between the billies and the girls. As it turns out a stock fence isn't enough to hold back Arwyn the billy goat. However the kids are beautiful and the mum goats doing really well.
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Soap has been flying out the door which has been lovely, I've nearly finished the interior of my soap kitchen as it had needed a fresh coat of paint and some new lighting. As with everything it always takes more time than you think a job will take. I've still yet to order business cards and the ones I like and had already designed now cannot be ordered, so thats helpful!
I long for more time to get the inside jobs done and better weather to get the outside jobs finished. This of course is a standard when you run a smallholding a business combined, not enough time or the feeling of no time at all. So I tackled one issue this week, I did a deep clean of the house. Nothing quite feels better than a bowl of warm soapy water and a good wipe down. It changes the air in the house. I used a tip from a friend to combat the rather big increase in spiders appearing and I dotted Rosemary and Lavender oil around the house. Wow!
I have a good sense of smell anyway and so now the house feels and smells fresh. It really does impact my mood and when you have lots of jobs on the one thing that does really help me is a tidy house and a clean fresh bed.
I was also gifted a most beautiful felted sheep fleece from a family member. We had decided to pop to one of my stockists to drop off more soap and whilst there she took the opportunity to get some shopping in for her new flat. She treated me to an item I had already pointed out to her as I had done each time I had visited if anyone was standing near. The work that had gone into the item is amazing and the locks stunning. I had spent many times brushing my hand across it but it was too expensive for me to buy.
Now it sits across one of my chairs in the snug. I won't sit on it, it'll be moved so my bum doesn't felt it all together but for now it looks stunning, a real statement piece made by Fflwff (click on the name for her Facebook page). I've already messaged about interviewing her but that will be for 2024. For next month I've interviewed Sasha from her farm and wool business in mid wales Wits End Flock. It was a really interesting chat and I'm currently working through editing the blog for the 16th September. So as always watch this space!
Jodie!
So everyone say hi to Jodie! One of the kittens born here who frankly shouldn't have been (read my confession post) yet will now spend the rest of her days here. Officially voted by every person who has come to our house as one of the cutest kittens in the world! Not only has she stolen our hearts because she is adorable but also because she got a nasty infection which sent her downhill very fast. So off to the vets she went, £50 later with antibotics she was sent home for me to carry on injecting the smallest little kitten in the world. Only made worse by the fact that she didn't have much meat on her bones to stick my needle into. Not an overall nice experience however she did come good, only for it to return a little bit. Knowing the signs a quick phone call to the vets with the question posed "Can I have a prescription for palatable drops instead of injections please?" and she is nearly 100% finally after a bottle of magic arrived in the post. After all our time spent with each other and the worry I have carried about her I couldn't bare to see her leave as some of her litter mates have done off to new homes vetted by us.
The thing with small animals, it doesn't take long for them to go downhill and this year has been horrid for infections like Cathy the sheep who is doing fine. For those of you who remember me talking about her and her udder infection. The udder rotted off and the skin underneath has healed nearly all the way over. We have the rest of the year to keep spraying and keeping the area clean and importantly free from flies. Otherwise she'll be fine, amazing really.
And of course we ended up with late lambs....
Esther dropped two boys and one was thriving the other not. Esther really shouldn't have had any more because of mastitis but she's cycled again when I put everyone together over the summer for the grazing I had. Her udders obviously damaged from last years infection and she can't sustain two. The bigger one seems fine and I'm best to leave her with one. So the little one has come home with me Friday night. Hunched and looking uncomfortable in the field, at home he now has a full belly and I can monitor him closely. Better than me trying to catch him each time in the field every day.
Needless to say while I made him a bottle up he made himself very much at home.
It's certainly felt more busy this month. September promises to be busy also but all for the right reasons. A new blog post mid September with Sasha, some more to write up. The barn to build, a new building to erect and at some point a few more goats will be joining us. I hope everyone is enjoying the interviews, I certainly am enjoying doing them. With every chat I'm learning something new, so for now... I've got mum goats and babies to move. Have a great weekend everyone.
Emma