Spring Break...over

What a busy break it was: a new bee colony, triplets, the vineyard arbor, manure spread, orchard sprayed and preparations for a wedding, with the breakfast being in our yard...maybe. I know that the baby goats came last week so I'd have an entire week to dedicate to them, in fact, they are all alive and very healthy. A month ago we had two goats and now we have six...goats, not rabbits. We'd have had seven if the other had survived.

The grape arbor looks pretty simple, it is, but it was a whole lot of work for just one person. Hefting the horse corral up onto the arches was a task. I believe it's sixteen feet long by four feet wide and heavy. I hoisted six of them that day...poor me-strong me :) All the fence is up and I'll be tying up the vines this week. There are 29 vines: 7 Carbernet Savignons, 3 Savignon Blancs, 2 White Canadice, 3 Catabwas, 6 Stuebens, and 8 Cynthainas. Those are only the grapes in the new area. There are 8 vines around the gazebo and pathway, 6 mature white vines that came with the house, 2 new starts from those vines and 1 white Canadice that I randomly planted until I can find a permanent place. My gosh, is that 46 vines? The others consist of Thompson, Concord, Swenson, Mak(something or other) and one Red Canadice.

I also checked into what I'll be doing this season with the Forest Service and it sounds like a I'll be back outside on my feet. I can't wait. I love driving around and seeing a lot of country, but my heart is on the trails, building and repairing. I'll be working with young people, YCC, which should be good. I enjoy young people, geeze, I'm a teacher. They always have fresh perspectives. Amidst thier "sophistication" there's an innocence, almost a vulnerability that allows them to be impressed, even taken by nature, which is what I am: taken by nature.

Soap

This is my fourth batch of soap. It has goat milk, honey, coconut oil, cocoa butter, glycerine, olive oil, oatmeal and some clove oil. The last batch was pretty powerful stuff, perhaps too powerful. I misread the proportions and added too much lye. This batch will be a good one.

The goats are all alive and well. I made a larger hole in the feeder nipple and they downed it in minutes. I reckon we're in the goat business.

I bought 18 more 20' lengths of rebar today. That makes 33 so far. I don't foresee many more being needed. It will be pretty nice when the vines bet large and fruitful.

Triplets: New Life on a Cloudy Day

I went to SLC yesterday and got a new colony of bees. On my way home my cell phone rang and my daughter informed me that Pinky, our other goat, had triplets. I was grateful that my daughter was able to witness the birth of at least one of the kids. My own children have not been into my little natural-sustainable fettishes. Anyway, it is a cold weekend and I'm going to do everything I can to keep these kids alive.

I learned a new way of installing bees yesterday. I started doing it without dressing up but got stung a couple of times. I should have let them, the bees, sit in the hive for a while before opening them instead of hurrying to get done after the jarring ride in the field.