Not My Lights!!!!

Last weekend I was head down and right in the middle of the wife's giant bird house project when she walks in and says that I needed to build her some miniature goat feeders.
Of course I fired off my default answer that you should know by now if you have been reading MDR, "It's not on the list!"
She went on to tell me how fast I could get this done and how I should go ahead and stop what I was doing to complete the newest task she had for me. I requested a detailed diagram thinking that would buy me a day or two. Five seconds later I was a handed a scribbled something or another on a piece of paper.
Looking at the paper that did not resemble anything like a goat feeder I struggled to find another excuse as to why I could not stop and build this thing.

"I don't have any materials for this." I said knowing this statement would end our discussion, but I was wrong.    

"I am sure you have something down in all those piles at the barn." Okay, she was right, I am sure there was something down there in my "organized" junk piles I could use, but I did not have the time to fool with it. So I told her to go take a look and see what she can find. 

Back to work again I kept one eye on the barn to see what she would be dragging back to the shop.  I figured this would either change her mind or at least put this off a few more days.

"NOT MY LIGHTS!" She found my lights that I scavenged off the job. These lights are used to illuminate the large signs you see on the highways. They run about $800.00 dollars new and these were being thrown away so I grabbed them. Just the bulbs are $40.00, I had already hung and wired up two of the eight, but I have not found a place for the rest.

"They would be perfect" she said batting her little eyes. "All you have to do is gut them."

"Gut them? Absolutely not, they are hard to find and cost way too much. Plus I have plans for them."

 So there you have it. A gutted and very expensive former light turned into a goat feeder. Not one, but two were made.

She was right, they are perfect little goat feeders and what the hell, I still have five lights left and now I have a bunch of replacement parts if I need them.   

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,   
 
    

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.