The shop, selling goats, birthdays

Although there were other chores or projects I could have focused on Friday night, I decided to start setting up the shop. I had already put up three pieces of plywood reclaimed from the little metal building on the east wall of the shop - it was only in one small area – but I had not taken time to move items from the garage to the shop in order to actually set up a work space. So, Friday evening and into the night, I focused primarily on that. I had purchased some metal pegboard panels almost a year ago but had obviously never installed them. That was first. It took me three iterations before I got them where I wanted them with the workbench and desk. Once those were in place, I moved the desk we have carried with us from the shop we set up in Bowie out of the garage and into place in the shop. There is about 60 feet of wall space to work with in the entire shop and I have set up about twelve feet of that total, so I still have a long way to go. But it is a start. I worked until well after dark and by the time I came inside and showered, my eyes were burning from the sweat that had been constantly pouring into them. That sting is still with me this morning.

In addition to getting the shop looking like a shop, I got cages out and cleaned them up so that we could load up goats Saturday morning. Bowie has a sheep and goat sale every Saturday morning and we had decided it was time to let the Nigerian goats go. Along with them, we were also planning on taking the two little bucks to the sale. Mama, however, found a different home for them. She called the lady who had bought Kia and Yukie to see if she was interested in buying one of the little males. She quickly agreed to our price on one but called back a little while later and told Mama she wanted both bucks. (She is enamored with the personality of the Myotonic goat breed.) So, selling these five goats will bring as much money to the farm as selling Daisy. Cattel are selling very low right now and Daisy was not a particularly desirable cow. I am slowly convincing Mama that we need to do more with goats and less with cattle. She is starting to see the potential is doing that. The hay we have to buy and feed out right now is getting expensive for the three bovine we currently ow. Fortunately, two of the three will be going to the market in October or November.

Anyway, Saturday morning, Victoria and I loaded the three Nigerian nanny goats into cages and we headed to Bowie - later than I had wanted. Mama and I had talked about getting the goats to the sale early, eating breakfast at the Longhorn Café and getting back to the farm in time for me to go bus calling. Somehow, between the time I went to bed Friday night and got the goats loaded Saturday morning, the part about getting me back in time to go bus calling had been forgotten. Now the plan was to visit Grandpa after we ate breakfast. Saturday was his birthday. He is 76 years old. Grandpa and Grandma appreciated the visit. Obviously, I was not back in time to go on visitation, but Mama and Victoria felt like we had accomplished everything they needed to get done. So much so that they both laid down for a nap as soon as we were home. I went back to work on the shop.

When I looked back at what I had accomplished, it was a little disappointing that it had taken so much time to get just that little bit done, but I was also dispatching chickens, cutting branches off the dead tree was are going to take down, taking trash to the dump and cleaning up little piles of debris around the coop and birthing center. So, not all my time was spent in that little area, but a lot of it was.

Mama is happy to see things moved from the garage to the shop – especially since she can now park in the garage.