We caught 3 more squirrels today, and Nick told me we caught one yesterday as well. That brings the total up to 13. I think I can plant my garden for the fall now. Still going to keep the trap out and baited though.

Caught 2 more squirrels yesterday. They were both dead when I got there. My sister told me that a campground in here I California was closed due to finding squirrels with the plague. At least 3 more squirrels to go.

Squirrels

We caught 2 baby squirrels today. The last few squirrels that we have caught have all died in the trap, probably from heat stroke. Nick has been unhappy with that situation, and I am sure he was pleased that these little guys were ok. I have to admit, as unhappy as I am with the squirrel situation (did I tell you that they have eaten all of my dry bean plants? Every. Single. One.), they were sure cute. So, tonight we relocated them into an empty field. Once they figured out how to escape from the opened trap door, they ran very quickly not the blackberry thicket. I was feeling pretty happy--6, possibly 7 squirrels down, until nick mentioned that there were at least 5 squirrels left. 5. Squirrels. Left. Sigh.

We've got

Goats! Well, sort of. They aren't ours. A friend of mine has two goats that are in milk that we are borrowing to see how we like them. We want to see if we want them with thecow, instead of the cow, or not at all. They are experienced, and I don't have to deal with babies so that is a huge plus. So far, we really like them. On the plus side, they are really easy to milk. Even Regan has milked them (with some help from mommy). We tie up one leg and there is no kicking or stepping in the milk. They give about 3 quarts each milking, and they are milked twice a day. I *think* I have figured out the milk handling so that the milk taste really good. They have stayed in their electric fence enclosure. The negatives? Well, I don't have a lot of natural pasture for them, so I need to always buy their feed. The milk can get really goaty if you aren't careful. But, we have enough milk to drink and make yoghurt. Today I made goat's milk soap, and I am waiting on an order of rennet so that I can make some cheese. I am staring with mozzarella, and will move on to other cheeses if that seems to work well.

We processed the 10 chickens we had a few weekends ago. It ended up taking 3 hours from start to finish. I think the next time we do it will be much quicker. Everyone will have their own station that they can man. The chicken plucker worked amazingly well. We were all so impressed with how fast it stripped off the feathers. That was the worst part of doing the birds last time. The chicken plucker was well worth the money.

The cow is over at the breeders. I had planned to get all the different field areas rototilled and planted with some different grasses, but that has been really slow going. It is not going to be even close to ready when she gets back, not sure how that is going to go. Wonder if they can keep her there for awhile? Probably not.

Chicken plucker

Well, the chicken plucker finally arrived! We considered making one, but I found one that cost less to buy than to make. No brainier!

We will be processing the chickens this weekend. Excited to see how this works!

Getting help

Yesterday I was able to go and get some help in understanding and training Elsie. Christina, who I bought Elsie from, is a wonderful trainer, and seems to really understand cows. She gave me some excellent tips and training, and I feel much more comfortable and confident. I also got a stable mat for the stanchion, and Elsie seems much happier milking up there than in the redneck stanchion I had thrown together earlier.

Just done

Today is one of "those days". And by that, I mean I just feel done with all of this homesteading stuff. I spent 4 hours doing chores around the yard, and very little seemed to be going right. The cow is not letting down. So very little milk. I wanted to move her to a new area today. Couldn't get the fence to work. That took up a lot of time. Finally decided to move her in the back, but I had to redo that fence. Thought I had it working and put the cows back there. Watched as the little cow went through. Decided that since I don't have much growing (yet) in the garden, I could eat breakfast and have some coffee. Went back and fixed the fence, and watered the fence line. I really want them to get a good shock so they. Leave. It. Alone. Got the 2 groups of chickens fed. Watered one of the gardens. Watered the pots of seeds. Did the sprouted grains. Decided what to do with the trapped squirrel. (Woo hoo!). Strained the milk. I was so done at that point. We hadn't even done school, my hair wasn't brushed, Regan wasn't dressed, and it was 11:00. I am rethinking the whole moving of the pasture area every other day. It just simply takes too long right now. Yes, I want to feed Elsie more from what I can grow, but I am feeling overwhelmed with this. Perhaps if I move the cows once a week, and make the areas bigger. It would still be moving her to fresh areas and letting the grass rest, but it would be more manageable for me.

This is the squirrel trap we got. It took 2 days, but we caught one! We are going to relocate it to the lake area. Hopefully we can catch more and I will be able to have a great garden.