Time For Autumn!

Look what we got!  Over 1 inch of rain in 24 hours. What a treat it was and we benefited from lower temperatures  created by a late summer heat wave. My garden went nuts. As you may know for us to get rain from June to October is not considered normal. But I had just about a month earlier put in the front runners of my Fall/Winter garden. The broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage thought they went to heaven. The tomatoes knew they had gone to the arctic circle and were none too happy about the highs in the 50's and low 60's. With lows in the high 40's and low 50's had them calling room service for an extra blanket.

 

  I milked Nutmeg until her big boys weaned and with all the summer activities and the one woman show around the farm I let it go . She is 9 years old and wasn't producing as much so I simply dried her off at that point. Not before I got in several cheeses and some soap made. This coming November I am hoping to catch Little Trouble and daughter Willa in heat and will breed them to Sundance Kid aka Buddy. Both he and Longfellow just came into rut and not as strong as past years. Longfellow will be 14 in the Spring and Buddy will be 12. I am pleased but surprised the Longfellow is still with us. I am hoping for a couple of doe kids. 

Presenting my new arrangement for Autumn. The vase is my mother - in - laws and I always loved it. I think she would approve. 

This photo was taken on the first day of the Oak fire here in Mariposa county. It is from my front porch. I am always amazed at the beauty in fire as well as the destruction. I have been through  the last fifteen years almost as many major wildfires. How I have been so fortunate to never have had to evacuate nor lost anything or anyone to them I don't know. However this year the fires were sat on just as quickly as they began. This fire burned almost 20,000 acres and destroyed over 100 homes. 

The last of a tradition. The fellow on the left is my son and the young lady on his right is his youngest daughter. You may have seen her in another post as she spent a lot of time with me during the pandemic. The two girls (her older sister) their Dad and Aunt (my daughter) all have letter jackets from the same high school. Dad for basketball and tennis Valley Champions that year! His sister for band.Daughter #2 for Cheer and  her sister for Cheer.

The Dude is two years old and still find this knucklehead sleeping in the strangest positions in the oddest places. 

Everyone who has hung in with me over the last many years knows these two. The little one is Callie who is now 10 years old and much larger. Her buddy behind her is Sherman who adored her then and as recently as this September. Sherman was a crowd favorite he was a clown and a people Pyrenees. Sherman was one half of a bonded pair who kept watch on their goats and more. Sherman always made me laugh each and every day. Sadly he crossed the bridge a month ago and left a hole as big as Texas in my heart. 

It Is A Garden Finally 🎉

 After too many reruns of winter and two days of spring then two days of summer. Finally we have a rhythmic pattern that agrees with the plants and me . Welcome to a photo tour if the 2022  garden at Walnetto Farm. 

Forgive the poor editing . Still putting post together with iPhone and Chromebook neither wants to communicate with the other. Also  Bush beans, strawberries, tomatoes , cucumbers , eggplant and more!

Two Weeks Old

 

The first kids in three years and the first born 

on the new homestead. They 

are both vigorous young bucks. Born first day 

of Spring at mid morning.After a week of mid 

night checks.  They are sired by Longfellow my handsome home grown buck who appraised excellent by ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association) as a three year old 

and retained that placement to now as a 13 year old. 

Have yet to decide what to do with them. I may keep them intact or castrate one and keep the other as a buck. The difficult part of having well bred genetic’s is it makes those decisions more difficult. Longfellow really stamps his offspring with his traits and excellent temperament.

No names yet as I am calling them Thing One and Thing Two. Dam Nutmeg is also a lovely doe and at 9 years has held up well. Looking forward to milk , cheese and soap. 

First fermentation in years. Sauerkraut from a very small cabbage. But has turned out well and I will make a point of  adding cabbage to the new raised bed. 

Emily grand girl  #3 gifted me with the chicken planter at Christmas. I took advantage and added a Spider plant cutting from Jessica who is a great friend and pretty much family.

Have spent some time on trying to perfect 

my sourdough. It is coming along. 

We have had mild Spring weather mixed with some cooler days with rain. The photo below

Is looking down the drive with the shop to the left.

Love the rainbow no filters used. 

From the front porch with the street beyond. 

Again no filters just nature showing off how beautiful the central Sierra Nevada range can be.  

Trust you enjoy the catch up. Again I will pop in when there is news and life permits. Have a wonderfilled day!

IF A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS ARE SEVEN WORTH SEVEN THOUSAND?

   

                        Sometimes photos give a false image because how the mind sees it. 

                          Yarrow at first glance has an awfully long tail? Enlarge the photo and

                               take a better look. But between the length of her tail and she is holding 

                        her paws very close together it may appear longer than it really is.

Trouble is a sweet doe and on first look because the large appearance

 of her head and that she is standing with her left shoulder to the 

back opps! Where is the rest of her left side?

                                         

Dude is exactly what he appears to be. A ginger cat chilling at the cats favorite 

gopher hunting grounds. He is maybe not as close to the hay covered by tarps 

as you would think.

Say "hello" to Nutmeg . Nutty is a nine year old doe  She appears larger on 

her right side than her left. Opps again. She is larger on the left as she 

is facing us . Our mind tends to want us to believe that it is right , right? 

Or maybe it is our right? 

Having your right side almost as large as your left gives us the illusion

that her rumen may be larger than normal. Should we be worrying about 

her since she is fussing over it and licking. MMMMM could be a sign of pain

and bloat???!

Well now that is better or is it? If a goat indeed carries her rumen on 

her left what could possibly be going on to make her look symmetrical??

 This is Mama Cat. She is both Dude and Esmeralda's mother. 

Mama cat as you can see is a very limited view of life under the 

milk stand. She is reminding us that things aren't always how

we see them or interpret it. Mama says think outside of the box.

Could a rumen full of frothy bloat push so hard that the other 

organs are being moved into the the right? Not likely because 

if it was we would have a doe in a world of hurt  and most likely

a down doe also. The more likely cause is a happy ending. The rumen

is more pronounced because, drum roll please. Walnetto Farm is delighted to 

invite you to join us mid March for the first kids to be born on the 

new homestead.  And thanks for wadding through my extreme goofy kid 

announcement. 💗