I will be farm sitting for my son for two weeks. Absolutely no WIFI and limited cell service. So will see you all after April 10 and hope to be well rested and relaxed. Happy Easter and my birthday. (I get to milk goats!!!!!!)
Thank you for the heads up. I probably would've worried if I didn't see you around on the threads. I hope you have a wonderful Easter and birthday as well. My birthday is falling on Easter this year, so I guess that's an added bonus.
Yes, I was completely off grid! Actually, there is a generator but to avoid having to start it up I used almost no electricity. Just one light at a time after dark and enough to charge my DVD player. My son and daughter-in-law have a beautiful home on 22 acres of forest in Nor/West/Cal. I am generally pleased to sit for their goats and chickens. Especially since we no longer have goats of our own. BUT!! I bit off more than I could chew this time. Mainly because I did not realize how much more work there would be since the last time. Seriously, I had to herd the goats from their shed up a mountain to their pasture. Since they needed a bribe of alfalfa to get them up the hill, and would try to grab it out of my hands; I found myself hiking halfway up the mountain to drop off the hay. Then I would hike back down to let the goats out and hike back up and get their attention. Then, I would rush to the pasture to toss in the hay, get everybody inside, hook up the wire and heat up the fence. (Quite an undertaking for a 65yo woman with arthritic hips.) And then back again at night. And I had to milk twice a day (something I have never done on my own farm.) All went pretty smoothly until several does decided they had no worries about the electric fence. They would leap over or simply walk on through. Though they would not usually wander far from the rest of the herd; it was still unnerving when I could not account for them. The chickens were much less work but to feed them I had to cross a little flooded gorge on some tree roots. And I had to hike up a hill to fetch their water. On the 3rd day I called Rod and got him to join me two days early. Things were much easier with two of us wrangling. Then came the rain. Constant for two days. And the milking stand was NOT in a parlor. Rod had to hold an umbrella over me and the goat while he got drenched. All of that said, I have to disclose that I really love it. So many stars at night that one could not count them, being awakened by sunlight and a rooster crowing rather than an alarm clock, walking the dogs and watching them leap and bound up and down the mountainsides, milk and eggs that are still warm they are so fresh are all reasons that when the time comes; I really hate to leave. Still, believe me when I say, “There is NOTHING simple about the simple life!!!!!!
Sounds like a lot of work, but rewarding. Often, I think, I want to live on a small farm away from the hustle and bustle. But, I know there's more work to it than I can imagine.
Next time you can borrow my Kricket to help herd the goats. She loves herding Gizmo (the cat) every chance she gets!
