Life In Gold Bar
Of the things I anticipated dealing with at the end of February, a foot of snow was not among them. It's pretty, but...
This month has been completely insane. We finally got some breathing room this week, and I'm waiting for checks to roll in.
Two new goats made an entrance this month, given to the landlords by various people. Both managed injury to my darling partner. The first in a somersault escape attempt while he was holding her collar, damn near breaking his hand, the second during a blackberry-saturated rescue when she went and hid in the ravine after slipping her lead, LONG night that was. We dubbed the goat Battleaxe. The 4 goats have become an interesting herd, and the dynamic has been interesting to watch, and a challenge to deal with, as getting them back into the pen after grazing time is more of a hassle than it was, though if I wait long enough they still tend to put themselves away.
Today marks the anniversary of when the first batch of chickens arrived. A year on they're all healthy, and save for the three that didn't make it past their first week, we haven't lost a one. Had a couple close calls: The Polish Black rooster got knocked cold with a large stick by the resident child, and another survived a hawk attack. The infamous Velocirooster is no longer with us; he's out fertilizing hens at another farm. Bobbie traded him for a chicken, which arrived pre-frozen and tidily wrapped.
We also have two new roosters, which are eerily quiet for their gender. They were given to us by some people who couldn't keep them. They were pets that they couldn't keep for whatever reason, though Jerry made it clear they're for eating, but the feather-footed beasts don't look like they have much eating on them. The drake does NOT like them. He'll chase them off any chance he gets. The tiny roosters can easily outrun him, but this became a problem when I was trying to get the roosters into the pen and the duck kept chasing them out again. So I picked up the duck and used him like a squirmy, fluffy weapon to herd them in. They're flippin' weird looking, I've dubbed them Thing One and Thing Two.
We've been getting between 4 and 10 eggs lately. The only factor in production I've noticed seems to be temperature. Everything is muddy... though that mud is currently under a foot of snow, but otherwise if you don't have rubber boots, you'll have a miserable time of it getting around out here. I speak from experience, as my right wellie has developed a tear on one side of the toe. Need to get around to fixing that.
I got voted in on the Board of Directors for Rustycon. Then got voted in as secretary. I'm glad the BOD doesn't meet as often as Concom. I hope I can do well for this little... quickly becoming a not-so-little... convention. I feel bad to be taking Jerry's place, but he's been helpful already.
IF I can get paid in a reasonable amount of time, this looks like it'll be a fairly prosperous month. Mike's looking forward to getting some fancy batteries for the beastie with our next big check, which he's been waiting to get for a couple years now.
We quit buying bread. Mike now makes it once a week or more, he's finally getting the hang of it. Lovely stuff, but a bit of a nuisance to make sandwiches with; they weren't lying about 'best thing since sliced bread'. The first loaf tends to disappear while its still warm. The last batch I was going to give the heel to the chickens, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, the stuff was still soft on the inside. I put some butter on it and shared it with Mike.
Last Friday we made a trip to the Everett DMV to get Mike's license renewed, he had to take the eye test. No problem, but OMG, it takes a budget to make a place look that dreary. If I were to get ahold of a load of paint, I think I'd sneak out there at night and do a big mural on the outside of the building. On the drive back it was clear and sunny, the afternoon light blazing off the Cascade mountains. "Oh my God, WE LIVE HERE! That is just AWESOME!" Coming into town really was thunderously beautiful. We stopped at the feed store to ogle the baby chickens. Our landlord is threatening to get more, I'm of two minds on that. I love the chickens, but we've already got 17 poultry, they should probably have a bigger pen and coop.
This weekend seven more people I know are moving out to Gold Bar from farther West. It's a bit of a hike to the city and whatever jobs they secure, but I think they'll enjoy it, at least until their kids hit 14...then there might be trouble.
Chief came out on Saturday. We showed him the new residents and I took him on a tour of Snohomish. Of course we hit the antique stores. The bakery had some tasty stuff. My main reason for going was the Kelso's Kustom Meats. These are the guys who do a fine job butchering the pigs out here. I grabbed some apple sausage and ground lamb. Sooo tasty. Not a ton of variety, but I certainly hope to go back. Found a British Pub in Snohomish, too. There have Yorkshire puddings and everything. Gotta get Mike there soon. We finished off the night with dinner at La Hacienda in Gold Bar. Nice little Mexican place on highway 2. he said he had a great time. We twirled around the idea of getting him a room at the lodge sometime so we could all tie one on out here and he wouldn't have to drive home.
WILL try to update more, and make my life a little more worth reading about, I hope.
This month has been completely insane. We finally got some breathing room this week, and I'm waiting for checks to roll in.
Two new goats made an entrance this month, given to the landlords by various people. Both managed injury to my darling partner. The first in a somersault escape attempt while he was holding her collar, damn near breaking his hand, the second during a blackberry-saturated rescue when she went and hid in the ravine after slipping her lead, LONG night that was. We dubbed the goat Battleaxe. The 4 goats have become an interesting herd, and the dynamic has been interesting to watch, and a challenge to deal with, as getting them back into the pen after grazing time is more of a hassle than it was, though if I wait long enough they still tend to put themselves away.
Today marks the anniversary of when the first batch of chickens arrived. A year on they're all healthy, and save for the three that didn't make it past their first week, we haven't lost a one. Had a couple close calls: The Polish Black rooster got knocked cold with a large stick by the resident child, and another survived a hawk attack. The infamous Velocirooster is no longer with us; he's out fertilizing hens at another farm. Bobbie traded him for a chicken, which arrived pre-frozen and tidily wrapped.
We also have two new roosters, which are eerily quiet for their gender. They were given to us by some people who couldn't keep them. They were pets that they couldn't keep for whatever reason, though Jerry made it clear they're for eating, but the feather-footed beasts don't look like they have much eating on them. The drake does NOT like them. He'll chase them off any chance he gets. The tiny roosters can easily outrun him, but this became a problem when I was trying to get the roosters into the pen and the duck kept chasing them out again. So I picked up the duck and used him like a squirmy, fluffy weapon to herd them in. They're flippin' weird looking, I've dubbed them Thing One and Thing Two.
We've been getting between 4 and 10 eggs lately. The only factor in production I've noticed seems to be temperature. Everything is muddy... though that mud is currently under a foot of snow, but otherwise if you don't have rubber boots, you'll have a miserable time of it getting around out here. I speak from experience, as my right wellie has developed a tear on one side of the toe. Need to get around to fixing that.
I got voted in on the Board of Directors for Rustycon. Then got voted in as secretary. I'm glad the BOD doesn't meet as often as Concom. I hope I can do well for this little... quickly becoming a not-so-little... convention. I feel bad to be taking Jerry's place, but he's been helpful already.
IF I can get paid in a reasonable amount of time, this looks like it'll be a fairly prosperous month. Mike's looking forward to getting some fancy batteries for the beastie with our next big check, which he's been waiting to get for a couple years now.
We quit buying bread. Mike now makes it once a week or more, he's finally getting the hang of it. Lovely stuff, but a bit of a nuisance to make sandwiches with; they weren't lying about 'best thing since sliced bread'. The first loaf tends to disappear while its still warm. The last batch I was going to give the heel to the chickens, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, the stuff was still soft on the inside. I put some butter on it and shared it with Mike.
Last Friday we made a trip to the Everett DMV to get Mike's license renewed, he had to take the eye test. No problem, but OMG, it takes a budget to make a place look that dreary. If I were to get ahold of a load of paint, I think I'd sneak out there at night and do a big mural on the outside of the building. On the drive back it was clear and sunny, the afternoon light blazing off the Cascade mountains. "Oh my God, WE LIVE HERE! That is just AWESOME!" Coming into town really was thunderously beautiful. We stopped at the feed store to ogle the baby chickens. Our landlord is threatening to get more, I'm of two minds on that. I love the chickens, but we've already got 17 poultry, they should probably have a bigger pen and coop.
This weekend seven more people I know are moving out to Gold Bar from farther West. It's a bit of a hike to the city and whatever jobs they secure, but I think they'll enjoy it, at least until their kids hit 14...then there might be trouble.
Chief came out on Saturday. We showed him the new residents and I took him on a tour of Snohomish. Of course we hit the antique stores. The bakery had some tasty stuff. My main reason for going was the Kelso's Kustom Meats. These are the guys who do a fine job butchering the pigs out here. I grabbed some apple sausage and ground lamb. Sooo tasty. Not a ton of variety, but I certainly hope to go back. Found a British Pub in Snohomish, too. There have Yorkshire puddings and everything. Gotta get Mike there soon. We finished off the night with dinner at La Hacienda in Gold Bar. Nice little Mexican place on highway 2. he said he had a great time. We twirled around the idea of getting him a room at the lodge sometime so we could all tie one on out here and he wouldn't have to drive home.
WILL try to update more, and make my life a little more worth reading about, I hope.