Blind Hog and Acorn

Lows in the 50??  Lovely...  Will take it!  Now if the farm could just get about 12" of rain.

Piddly things done on the farm, working in the garden, cutting firewood, messing with the goats.

Springfield house will get a new roof on Monday- guy said it would be done in a day.  Acorn was not amused with all the bids.  Get it done and let that be all the major issues for a good few years...

Well then! An overnight in Kentucky with a 7 hr drive there and back.  Two cave tours, two picnic lunches, 18 rare breed chicken eggs and to come back to the farm 3 hrs into a 14 hr power outage.  Them farmers certainly know how to have a good time!

Is hard to describe how vast Mammoth Cave truly is.  Immense.  Just immense.  Pictures don't do it justice unless one has a person in view for scale. Highly recommend for anyone to go visit.  One must have a ticket to set foot in any part of the cave, even if it is a free ticket to do the "self guided" bit that is very, very short.

Facilities were great, cozy cabin was just that.  Driving was easy, narrated audiobook/storytime made the trip fly by.

Back to the heat, but this too shall pass when the Autumnal Equinox arrives.

Exxxxxcelllllent trip to Bentonville for the farmers.  Mental batteries recharged and spirits uplifted by wonderful art.  And food...

Drought continues on the farm.  Eggs in the incubator- 19 guinea eggs, 7 banty eggs and soon there will be Swedish Flower Hen eggs once the farmers return from a trip to Mammoth Cave NP next week.  Is Acorn excited?  You betcha!

 The farm got a new buck today- an 18 month old mostly Myotonic with 1/4 Spanish.  He is a nice stout lad with great muscling and HUGE "organs of reproduction..."  As Blind Hog says- he will be a big boy if he can grow into his nuts.

Acorn had an eye exam, advised to hold off on corrective surgery till cataracts force the issue.

Roofing estimates coming in, three alone taken on Wednesday. It has been soooo freakin hot... And an angry wren-lette who got watered. Acorn did not know a nest was there!

Acorn will kidnap Blind Hog for a Friday run to Bentonville and the art museums.  Grandma Moses Exhibit soft opening, members only.  Might as well flex the perks!

Yup- just took a hungry hen to flap up to the brooder box, flip the hook latch and kick the door slightly open.  When discovered later- all the peeps had gone and no trace.  So much for that- Guinea Keets 1, Acorn 0...

Blind Hog's cataract procedure was a success- things brighter, sharper and he does not need his magnifying glass to read!  Will be rechecked in 2 weeks for new vision Rx.

Drought is settling in.  Just 1" of rain for the month, in addition to allllll the excessive heat.  Will be watering the garden now 2x a week.  So happy all that fence work is done, for now...

Yay!  Cataract procedure appears to be successful for Blind Hog.  Already he is noticing improved vision.  Hot damn!

Meanwhile on the farm, the hay field re-fencing project is now compete.  Acorn's shoulders are saying "praise be" to that.  Now Acorn can refocus attention to the garden which has rapidly gone wild.

Surgery follow up and meeting with service peoples at the Springfield house next week, giving the goats a bag of feed instead of the protein blocks, working in the garden and letting Blind Hog rest up as his eye heals.  Oh!  And Acorn has a new handicraft!  Sashiko Japanese stitching- is most fun and a very cool way to mend fabric with a long history.

Almost done with the 3rd hay field paddock!  Just 245' left to pull.  The fenceline is all tidy between SteelMeadow and the neighbors.

Guinea keets made it out to the chicken coop- in their brooder pen is inside the fence "porch" of the chicken coop.  Keets will get to watch the chickens and learn that "this is home..."

Garden has been a little neglected but beans are making a good showing.

Blind Hog gets the cataract removed from his "good eye" on Thursday- hoping for better vision!

Finally back to the refencing project, Acorn sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Less than two weeks to get the project completed before Blind Hog's cataract surgery. 

Heat, cold, rain and heavy dew have not been kind to the goats but "we see this..." Acorn calls it "summer pneumonia" and it can take a goat in less than 48 hrs.  Good news is that the majority of the herd look great.  If Acorn could just clone the 12 or so who look superb...

Tomatoes coming in splendidly, purple martins have fledged and fled,  hummingbirds drinking more than 1/2 gallon of syrup a day now.

Guinea keets growing like weeds and the first of the second batch are hatching.  Not a bad week at the farm!

VERY Unusual start for August, but Blind Hog and Acorn are not complaining.  After a few days of rain, the farmers were able to get out and about and start clearing brush and overhanging limbs on the west fence line.

Blind Hog got his cataract evaluation and will be getting a new lens in mid August. Yay!  The MD used a laser and cleared crud from behind the replacement lens in his left eye, and it is now brighter!

Guinea peeps have hatched from batch 1...  Six keets, but the unhatched keet that got thrown in the trash then found to still be alive is a bit slow,  not sure it it will make it.  We will see...

Weather was really hot, cooled down, now is hot again.  Sounds like perfect summer pneumonia for the goats.  Currently 96F with heat index of 116F.

Fencing continues- Blind Hog and Acorn pulled fence and took down more of the old fence in preparation for the new.  All is going according to plan. Outdoor chores are done in the morning, afternoons spent inside.

Heat has brought up the okra and beans in the garden, fig tree is nigh 7-8' tall now!

Acorn resurrected the sourdough starters and last night made croissant dough, baking a batch of croissants this morning plus "pistachio pastry cream" filled pastries.  Eye-rolling good.

Sam has been catching rabbits.  Blind Hog has had a few annual MD visits, all good there. Next week he sees the cataract dude.