Helelelelp, Helelelelp

That is the sound the goats made when I loaded them up in the truck last night.

The friend of a friend of a friends goat deal I wrote about a few days ago came though. I was skeptic because of the price he was selling them at was really low, but there were no hidden costs, tricks or misunderstandings.

For some of the newer readers and even for some of the old ones who cannot remember me posting about goats (I won't say names - sista), I have dealt with goats my whole life. When I was young I showed goats in 4-H and on the farm we had a huge milking operation that was part of my chores. Mom would make cheese and soaps with the leftover milk being given to us kids to drink. It wasn't till I was older that I went back to cows milk and I did not like it at all.

After I was married and built my house in the woods on the farm, the first animals I called my own were goats. As soon as we moved out here to the Mini Farm we put goats in the pasture as well, but this time I went small. We started out with Pygmy goats, but now have a nice herd of pure bred Nigerian Dwarfs.
Last summer when the AC went down I sold off close to thirty for the cost of repairs and kept just six of the smallest ones. We have been looking for good deals to build our herd back up to around twenty five, but the goat prices are out of this world.
Last month I went the sell and sat there in shock shaking my head at the prices. The same goat a year ago that was going for $25 dollars, now was selling for $60 to $75.
The higher prices have cut out the profit margin to say the least. Last year we ran around seventy five goats through the Mini Farm and so far this year only about four. If I cannot find them cheap, I don't buy.

This deal last night was a long shot that paid off. I got five nannies and six babies ranging from two weeks to four months old. Some of the nannies are already bread back so that is money in the oven.
The bad part of the whole thing is they are not Nigerian. With the old saying that beggars cannot be choosers, I will take what I can get. Two of the older does are Spanish and the others are Pygmy mixed with Nigerian. Like I said, a goat is a goat and this was a great investment. I could take them to the sell this Tuesday and almost triple my money but I will let them drop what kids they are bred back with to hopefully do even better. That is if the market stays up.

I do not milk them because number one, I do not want to take that butt kicking again and number two, I do not have the time to commit to it. I would rather buy my Goat Soap from sista. I already have her soaps on display in the Solar Bathhouse. They are too pretty to use.

I don't know if I told y'all this or not (maybe once or twice), but the oldest girl BEB will be home from collage tonight for the summer. Good times

My day tomorrow has changed up some, I still plan to make the run to the old farm to scavenge the tin off the walls but in the morning I will be going over to my dad's house for a good old chicken killin. I have four or five roosters ready for the knife and he has about twenty. We will be using his home made chicken plucker and kill station.

Until tomorrow,   
 
    

Howdy

This is to welcome a new member to the Modern Day Redneck Family.
Hillbilly Geezer over at http://hillbillygeezer.blogspot.com/ is the newest member of MDR and I wanted to say thank you for hitting the button. If you need anything please let me know, my email on the right side of the blog.

I also wanted to say a big howdy to DFW over at http://countintheday.blogspot.com/. She has done a guest post on MDR before and has been around many of our blogs for sometime now. With much poking and prodding she has started her own. Please go over and help give her a big welcome to the blog world.

Beer, Goats, Demolition And Prom

What do they all have in common, that is what my weekend will consist of.

Prom
I would rather you take me out back and just shoot me in the head then to have to deal with prom.
This Saturday is our schools prom and did you know there are hundreds of unwritten rules just on the dress alone. Lets see if I can remember some, it could not have ever been to this schools prom before, it can't look nothing like another girls dress, it can't be too tight, it can't be too loose, it can't be too long and it can't be too short.
My oldest girl (BEB) has three nice prom dresses hanging in the closet she wore, but the middle girl (Boppie) says "oh no" because it was already worn at the prom, once. We bought her a nice one at the thrift store for $13 bucks, but it was too tight. The wife spent a week making her one but it was not puffy enough. I said enough is enough and she could wear jeans for all I cared. So Boppie, with her own money, went out and found her the dress she wanted. It was far from the $600 dollar dress her friend is wearing, but at least it is a dress. All this to only wear it one time, truly amazing and don't get me started on the hair, makeup and tanning.

Demolition & Beer
Saturday I plan to make a trip down to the old farm place and scavenge some building material from my old house I built years back. One item I plan to get is the tin off the living room walls. When I built the house I put tin half way up on the walls, it really looked good. Now I need that tin to do the same in the bathhouse. I don't like the bare walls in there so the tin would give it the perfect rustic look.
While in the area I need to run by some old friends of mine who just happens to have a laundry roller wringer I need to get for my mom, it will be her Mother's Day gift. (Now that's county living right there) What are sons for right?     
 Me and my buddy will have some catching up to do and what better way to do it than by sitting by the fire drinking a cold beer.

Goats
I got a lead from a friend who has a friend and his friend has a bunch of goats for sell (yup, one of those deals). I would not have put this on the weekend scheduled but I spoke to the friend of a friend of a friend last night and he confirmed he indeed had a bunch of goats for sell. I can get them at a price where I can actually make a little off them when I decide to sell. First I want them at least throw some kids so I can see what they will look like, but I am not counting my chickens before they hatch and will have to see if it all falls into place.

It is only Wednesday and my weekend is getting full. Maybe, just maybe I will find enough time to do some fishing.
Oh, have I told y'all BEB will be home for the summer this Friday. We are really excited about it. Check out her blog and see how creative she got with some collage dorm room cooking. She had better make some when she gets home is all I got to say.        

Howdy X3

I would like to Welcome three new Modern Day Redneck family members,

MamaTea, over at http://farmfoodmama.blogspot.com/

Sandy, at http://oklahomatransient.blogspot.com/

Rick, Don't think has a blog yet.

Thank y'all for hitting the follow button and becoming part of the family. Please feel free to comment, I will respond, and if you need anything or have a question you can find my email on the right side of the blog.

Again, thank you and welcome to MDR

HowdyX2

 

I want to give a welcome to the two newest members of the Modern Day Redneck family.

Welcome theheartofasinner and Dani over at http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/

Thank y'all for hitting the follow button and becoming part of MDR. Please feel free to leave comments and if I can help you or if you need anything my email is on the right side of the blog.     

Must Be Doing Something Right

I don't know if it is one single thing I am doing or a combination of several things, but whatever it is it's right.

These two raised beds are full of Squash, Pumpkins, Cantaloupes and Watermelons. 

 Look at the size of this squash plant. It is like a Giant Elephant Ear.

And Carrots, I have never had carrots this big and bushy. I pulled one just to make sure something was growing under the top and the carrot was already eating size. Another couple of weeks and these bad boys will be pickled.

I got maters and I am happy about it. Last year the plants were big but they never produced any fruit. I have so many plants this year I think I will have more tomatoes than I will know what to do with.

If you were wondering, yes the girls did out fish me again. I sure am glad I am not making a living on what I catch. The girls on the other hand, they might could make a few dollars.

Right off the bat this morning before I even had the chance to bait my hook, the youngest "Wee" pulled in this  4 lb Alligator Gar. We don't eat Gar so I threw him back. The little devil, with all his needle teeth did get in a bite on my finger before I could get him back in the water and yes the blood was flowing.

Boppie (The middle girl) did manage to pull in some baby fish we could not keep, but at least the cork went down.

I, again did not pull one single fish out of the water, but I did get to relax, hear the girls laugh and have a little fun, priceless.


I hope y'all have a great week and thank you CFW, I am undeserving.    

I Call It Junkin

My weekend plans were changed around a little to where I had today free and open. Having changed plans twice now left me open just long enough for the wife to fill my Saturday up before I knew it happen.

At 7:30 we were up and out garage selling or what I like to call "Junkin". Being a cheapo means I needed to have my A game on so I can talk the talk and find as many deals as I can. We grabbed our friends D&R and headed out.

 We ended up being on the go for seven hours. It was almost more than I could bear.

This picture is of some of the things that was in the back of the truck. A bunch was already put away and the back seat was still full.
$20.00 was all I spent and here's how. I do not tell this secret to just anybody so here it is.

This weekend there were many community sales going on. That is where 20 or 30 homes inside a subdivision have their garage sales all at once to draw in more buyers. First thing is to drive around and visit all the houses and if there is something you want, go ahead and get it. The next step is to wait them out until it gets hot and sure enough as soon as one does it, they mostly all follow along. They get hot and tired and close up shop setting everything else to the curb with a big "Free" sign in the front. This is where you swoop in and load up. The one problem is that others know of this as well and will team up and beat you to the good stuff if you are not careful.
It is amazing how a few minutes ago you would have not dreamed of dragging something home, even at a deal and now it looks like a must have treasure when it's free.

After it was all said and done, the wife and I spent a nice quiet evening going to dinner to a place that overlooks the lake and ate while watching the sun set.

Tomorrow is spending time with the girls. They said they want to go fishing. Oh the humanity of it all. LOL

Family Preparedness, Must Read

Everyone preps for different reasons.
Your reason may be on a huge complex scale like prepping for the end of the world where you will need years of essential products stored away, or you could be prepping for something as simple as a three day power outage where a small food pantry is all you need to store the required elements to sustain life.
 I for one have always said I am doing all this for "IT", with "it" being whatever "it" may be, large or small.

Last night the wife and I were talking about food consumption and how the money budgeted for food was not buying near as much as it was last year. It seams like we bring home less and less bags every trip but are still spending the same amount of money. She said with a fearful look, "This summer is going to kill us."

This it is folks, my "IT". Summer time, when all the kids will be out of school and at home. We stock up all year for those few super hot months in the summer where there is nothing else to do besides sit in the house and eat.
At the end, only dust will cover the shelves where the 50 cans of Vienna Sausages now sit. Empty wrappers of bread sticks, chips and pork rinds will litter the floor and will need to be cleaned with a street sweeper like the day after Mardi Gras. A lone cereal bag will get caught in the breeze of the fan sending it spinning across the floor like a tumble weed in a West Texas ghost town.
The fist day back to school the wife and I will survey the damage and debate calling in the Red Cross to help out in the recovery efforts. One dog will be missing, the others left in fear days before the event struck.

Wading through the aftermath I am sure it will happen. I will find what is left of my candy stash I thought I hid so well. I will grab the empty wrappers in each hand, will drop to my knees, shake my fist to the heavens and cry out "WHY, OH WHY"

There will be nothing else to do except rebuild.

Enjoy the rest of your day. 

          

Clicking Right Along

Just like everyone else, it is that time of the season and it is busy. There is no difference from work to the Mini Farm, everything is in overdrive and running full throttle.

This blog was started for a way to keep a record of what I was doing and the successes and failures of the events when done. I never expected to have one reader much less as many as I do. As the reader base grew I felt a need to post more often. Like many of y'all do, I felt an obligation to do so on a daily bases and during this time of the year it is just too much. As you can tell this past couple of months I have dropped back to once or twice a week on my posts.
From the emails I have received I deemed it necessary to post about this. For the past two and half years doing this blog I have found that when you have something to say you don't have the time to say it and when you do have the time, there is nothing to say.

With the Mini Farm in full swing and some family issues just coming to light I need to focus on those issues more than this. You are very important to me and rank number five on my important scale with God, Family, Country and Work being the top four. I will continue to blog, but only when I can. I do hope you understand. If it is once a week or just once a month until things slow back down and the family matters I mentioned get back to normal.

Saying all that, here is a quick update. Like I said, the Mini Farm is in full operation. The wife gave a couple of tours this week to people wanting to see all the cool water and solar projects and the animals. The Mini Farm has been standing open now for the past few weeks and people have been coming and going everyday buying this or that.
Chicks are hatching once a month and I can say now I almost have too many chickens.
Feed has gone up and the profit margins have gone down. We have to sell more just to see a little return. Everyone is looking for a deal and want to jew us down, I don't blame them because I do the same thing. Last night I had a guy ask me for the friend price. I just laughed.

Raising my own slaughter pigs was not the way to go. I already have more in them than I will ever get back in food. Yes it is a lot more healthier this way but if I have to go through this kind of expense to just eat healthy I would rather go without pork.  

This week I had to check myself because I was falling into a slump with doing the same old rut everyday. Work ten hours, come home and work another four or five. I am getting tired and the season just started. At the end of the day I am doing more harm than good until I finally just give up, put the tools down and go to the bath house for a hot shower.

 I have seen a good dent in my project list so that is the good news, the bad news is I did most of the small ones to get them out of the way. A big project comes with big expenses and that's something I cannot do right now. I have been needing a shop for three years. I work out of a little yellow cart I pull around and set up tables and sawhorses for benches. It ain't right. A workshop would cost around three grand and all I can do is dream of it while I pull my little tool filled cart around.  I have a guy that will help me build it and probably could get it all framed in a weekend but it's the material I do not have.
So the next low budget project is the solar laundry room. I have most of the supplies needed to get it done so I can build it for under one hundred and fifty dollars I think. I already have the floor set in place so that is a start.

Until next time            

I guess you could say my contribution to Earth Day this year is my new homemade Solar Dehydrator.












I made it a five tray because the trays are so big I figured I didn't need any more than that. If so I have some material left over to make more.


Nope, I never found the little solar panel I was looking for so I bought another one. $14 bucks at Harbor Freight for a 3 watt panel I guess is okay. It runs a small fan that pulls the heated air through the windows and up into the dehydrator box.
There are also heat absorbing metal plates inside the window triangle to help out.


This morning I filled it with Basil, Chives and Cilantro. The fan kicked on at 9:30 AM and should stop around 7:00 PM. There is no battery, just the power from the sun.

Total build cost, $35.00 for the solar panel, metal screen material and the 1X2 boards for the shelves. Everything else was junk I had laying around.

Unlike a direct solar dehydrator, this one will take a little longer to dry the herbs but will hold in more of the color and flavor that would have been lost through direct sun dehydration.

Real quick, I wanted to show a updated picture of one of the barrel Kitchen Herb Gardens I built for the wife a month or so ago. Cool hu?

Now Where Did I Put That?

I hate it when that happens, you know you have something, you know you put it up for safe keeping but you just can't figure out where.

The part I am looking for is the solar panel I have that will run my fan for the solar dehydrator. It is all I need to finish the project, but for the life of me I cannot figure out where I hid it. The wife and I have turned this house upside down and I know it is in here somewhere.

You know what will happen don't you? As soon as I give up and buy another one I will find it. It always happens that way.

I am proud of myself for hiding it so well.

Olly olly oxen free.........

Marco.......

You Have To Hear This

No, really. I actually have my own song now.

http://www.ragtube.com/videos/2771/modern-day-redneck

It is a song performed by The Wild Fruit.

Enjoy