Oooookay.

So it's been too long since I've updated and although I'm tired and I have a headache, I'll force myself to do a little ditty here.

We didn't end up acquiring these said llamas because quite frankly WTF?! Too many other projects to finish up and though it was a great opportunity, the timing just wasn't right for us. I definitely think we made the right choice. We just finally got all 4 frames up on the shed and tomorrow I'm going to start measuring siding and hopefully be able to do some of that. I would love to have the shed mostly done by Saturday so I can slap a temporary roof on top and start moving stuff into it.

There's also the issue of the massive duck acquisitions we've made recently (our muscovies, khaki campbells, and our buff). We need to revamp the living quarters for our chickens and ducks. Though I love the idea of free ranging them, right now they are making an absolute mess of the front of the house because they hang out begging for food! As a result our walkways and front steps are just littered with poop. Very gross. So we're going to need to brainstorm and design some solutions to this while still allowing them access to fresh grasses and ranging area.

Third project would be the fence. We have bought a lot of the supplies we need for the fence but we just haven't had a lot of time to work on it. We even got two gates, though they are too small to serve as a front entrance so we may have to build a front gate from wood, etc. We have a bunch of holes dug down on one side so we need to measure and cut posts, and then concrete them, not to mention start affixing the fencing material. WHEW! I could use about 50 more hands and 24 more hours in my day!

Even with all the craziness though it's been extremely rewarding. We're slowly getting our house situated and the bathroom is comign along slowly but surely. I can't really complain and when it's all said and done I'll be able to said that we actually did it with our own bare hands. There's a pride that comes with that. And I wouldn't trade that feeling for any apartment man could build.

Llamas, fencing, and AHHH!

So we are getting llamas! Four to be exact. It's strange. Every person I've told this to gives me a sideways look as though I might be seriously losing my sanity. Which is a distinct possibility. But ANYWAYS -- I found free llamas on craigslist and seized opportunity. They're coming with an impressive amount of free supplies and hay to come with them. The woman is even giving us free fencing. Apparently, she's an older woman and is downsizing her farm. So her loss is our gain in this particular aspect. I don't anticipate that we will keep all of them permanently but for the time being they can help us eat down the property and protect our other animals from coyotes or persistant stray dogs.

But of course... we don't have a pen set up yet. Eh ha-hahaha-ha. How hard could it be really? Putting up a fence? Dig some holes, plop in a post, some cement, staple the fence to said post. Riiiiight. Except after some

blazing hot weather, it finally decides to rain. Right smack dab on the week that I need to get this fence in for incoming llamas. Funny. Reeeal funny Washington. Plus i

discovered that concrete is NOT cheap and y

ou need quite a large quantity of it for fencing. SIGH. But we persevere and move forward. Seems we might need to postpone the pick up of the llamas anyhow because the woman called and said this Sunday wouldn't work and Saturday doesn't work for us, so again, might need to push it out. Which at this rate would not be a bad thing. We still need to build a lean-to shelter as well as pen for incoming goats. We're slating goats for next month though.

So it's been feeling like a lot of crunchtime recently but with the bad weather its putting a greater strain on our time resources. In two short weeks I'll be going back to work for the school district and our schedules will be even more hectic than they are right now! We're pushing to finish the shed but Hank is laid up with a bad back and while Whitney and I can finish up the framing, we really need his expertise to move

forward with the siding and roofing part of the project. Which, because its raining, really needs to happen sooner rather than later.

This is our first harvest though we've collected quite a bit since this picture was taken. Even made our first zucchini bread!