Farm sales, training, the weekend ahead

In preparation for taking the ewes to the stock sale tomorrow, I put the racks on the truck last night. I am glad I took the time initially to build the racks so that they could be reused. We have the stock trailer now and it is very easy to use but for this trip and the limited space in this smaller stock yard, it is better to have the sheep in the bed of the truck. Hopefully, we will not have a hard time catching the three ewes this evening. Once that is done, we will get the two older lambs and put them back in the paddock with the other lambs. That will make things easier each time we go out to feed. In addition to selling the older sheep, we are cutting down to one bottle per day for each of our bottle two babies. That will also help reduce the time it takes to feed in our twice daily routine. Trying sheep on our farm was not a failed experiment. We learned a lot. We had lambs born on the farm. We will make all our money back and then some, but after we sell all the male lambs (we have five total) in the Fall, we will stick with our Myotonic goats. They are so much more fun to raise. So much easier to handle.

Things have gotten very busy at work. Red (my coworker) and I talked last year – and he remembered the conversation – about my suspicions that things were going to get a bit overwhelming through the Spring and Summer of this year. I did not tell anyone else at work about those suspicions, because I could not be sure it would work out as I suspected. It has even been a little worse than I had predicted. Don’t get me wrong. It is a great thing for the company, especially since they have taken the initiative and raised the price charged for the classes we offer. Something long overdue. On the bright side, we have enough qualified people to handle the swelling schedule of classes we will be required to offer. Last year that was not the case. Even if I am able to leave at the end of June, I will have helped get the company through the roughest patch of instructional led training challenge we are facing. I am pleased that my behind-the-scene efforts to meet the current demand has worked out well. I am currently in the process of onboarding four new instructors for a variety of classes. That should all be wrapped up by the time I am able to leave.

I have very little planned for this weekend. I am out of materials and out of money. So, if the rain holds off, I will work on cleaning up around the property. There are piles of scrap and debris that needs to be taken to the dump. It will be good to get it removed from the farm before snakes make their homes in them. Last night I took out a lumber rack I have had for several years and installed it in the shed behind the shop. It was disappointingly small, but it did allow me to organize some of the boards I am salvaging from the pallets I have disassembled. Just getting those thirty, four-foot oak boards out of the shop was surprisingly helpful. I am hanging onto the lumber so that Mama and Kim Cantrell can use them on projects they are talking about making. We will see if that happens. If not, I can use them on multiple projects around the farm.

Our garden is shaping up to be the most productive we have ever had. Rain has been plentiful. Sunshine has been plentiful, and the rabbits have been largely absent – so far. One of the little chores this weekend is to clean up in the garden. Weeding and weed eating. Mama and I have talked about getting me a weed eater that is lighter than the one I have had for years. Every time I use the weed eater we have, I hurt for hours afterward. It is by far the best piece of equipment I have, but it is not the right one for me at this time. For now, it is all I have, so I make it work. But only for thirty minutes or less at a time. That purchase will have to wait along with so many other things we need to upgrade or outright replace.

We are inching closer to making that happen. Patience.