Close Quarters Cooking and Goat Sorting

Here is my new kitchen!  Prior to moving in, I thought my cooking would be severely hampered by the small workspace, but with a little ingenuity and a few workarounds, things are going well. I think we got a great trailer. All of the appliances and plumbing work and the cabinets are well-made with real oak doors. Finding where to keep everything is a work in progress, but we have adjusted our habits quickly-- washing dishes immediately after use is definitely the way to go!

I brought my large crock pot with me and it is stored under the seat of one of the benches at the dinette, I use it about once a week and cook beans, soup, or carne guisada. It's a six quart cooker, so I always have some left to freeze for later.  The crock pot is really nice because it doesn't heat up the trailer like the midget oven or stove top does. I have one small counter space area and do most of my chopping and mixing there, but also use the dinette table for that. Of course,  the dinette table is also the place where we compute! So there's is a bit of shifting while doing anything. I feel very fortunate that Danny's house has electricity as I have hooked up my full-size refrigerator in his 'living room'. This allows us to have a big freezer and a place to put extra milk and Gatorade. Outside, I have my trusty gas grill, which produces all types of yummy stuff.

Does exploring their 'new' pasture

Today, we did the monthly 'goat shuffle' a couple of days early. In July, we put Billy BA in the middle pasture with some of the open 'girls.' To do that, we put the does with kids and the doelings not old enough to breed yet in the Triangle with the donkeys. In the lower pasture, we put the young bucks and wethers. Well, that didn't last long as Melonhead and Doll's boys braved the electric fence to get back to 'momma'. (Geeesh. If you are so big you have to lay on the ground to nurse, it's time to give up the milk!)

Crying for Momma

So we had a little goat rodeo today. Danny got all of the goats in the two connected round pens, then we segregated all nine of the boys from the girls. The boys got CL vaccine boosters, fly spray and a hoof trim before we all about passed out from the heat. Danny led all the boys to the Triangle with a bucket of feed, and I brought up the rear, driving the slow pokes. Dan had to carry Brownknee to the Triangle cuz he did NOT want to go! We got them all penned up and are now listening to Melon, Spot and Brownknee whine about missing mommy.

The three donkeys took over the Middle Pasture, and all the does and kids are relaxing in the lower pasture. July and August are tough on the goats and donkeys due to the forage not growing as fast. And donkeys eat a lot! This will be their first time without any goats in their pasture in several months, so I figure they can  use the break. It will also allow us to feed them separately from the goats.

If BA got his job done, we should have baby goats in December!  Great Red Spot and Flower had been with him earlier, so they may kid out in October.  In October or November (we haven't decided yet), we will set up all the eligible girls with one of the bucks.  Jupiter should be raring to go by then... he's got the beard for it!

Intermittant Kidding, wethers on the way

The last month has been busy. Immediately after my last post, I ordered business cards online. A lot goes into the look and feel of a card--- color, fonts, placement, graphics and information. I used a cute little pic of After-You as my good luck charm.

Sadly, a few days after I sold him, he died of quick-acting pnuemonia. As a rancher, I know that animals will die, but it was a bit hard anyway. He was too young for a pneumonia vaccine, but I'll always wonder if there was something I missed. He was a cute little fellow and I'm glad he's on the front of our cards.

Jupiter and Sister have been growing at a prodigious rate. I can barely pick that buckling up! He is a lot more social than the doeling. If you enter his pasture, he will run up to be picked up. A true goat puppy, gently pawing at your feet to remind you that he is there. He's definitely the 'adventure' goat so far, curious and fearless. He's got a protective streak as well, guarding Sister when she wants to nap. She's more shy about getting picked up.

The donkeys are quite taken with the goat-puppies and provide good protection. Surprisingly, Fiona has turned out to be the donk most intrigued. When the kids are tired and lying down, she will hover nearby, keeping the grown goats away. I love watching her tiptoe over them, carefully placing her hooves on dirt, not fur. I've also watched delivered well-placed kicks to errant adult goats, reminding them of who is in charge.

So, last week I anticipated more kids from Khaki and the pygmies, Oreo and Doublestuff. As usual, I was wrong! But they are sure to kid this week while I'm gone. Maybe.

All three have good udders right now. Khaki is arranging the kids in their tight quarters, murmuring to them in nanny-speak. Oreo is wider than she is tall, and we might rename DoubleStuff to include a treble portion. Only time will tell. We have two pens set up for mommas and babies. I am hoping that the Cookie twins will bunk together, but you can never tell which does will be jealous or will steal kids.



I'm hoping to have a lot of bucklings v. doelings. I plan to keep the doelings from good mommas (mothering is a heritable trait), but sell all the wethers and other doelings. In March, Doll (multi-colored) and Belle (red) will deliver the first kids sired by Billy BA. He's currently relegated to the Triangle with Z1, ZeeZee, Fea and the wethers. That way, he won't bully the pregnant does or prevent them from eating feed. The three does with Billy should kid in May or June.

Then there's Freakazoid, the screaming La Mancha. She is pregnant and should kid by May. I hope the father is not Stupid.

Look! A baby goat!

The past two weeks have been pretty hectic. Big Momma has tried mightily to provide for three kids, but we ended up supplementing the smaller one with two bottles a day. Since we don't live at El Rancho (yet), we could either bring the baby home and let him stay in the backyard alone; bring a 'mini-herd' to the backyard, consisting of Big Momma, all three kids, and a wether; or leave the kid at the ranch and take the bottle to him. Since someone goes to the ranch most days, we elected to take bottles to the kid.

What a sweet buckling. Big Momma and the kids would line up at the gate, ready to move to another pasture where I was serving grain and milk. The buckling began to thrive and we began to look at our options again. On Thursday, luck sent a buyer our way, a woman whose teenage daughter wanted a pet-- either a pig or a goat! We talked on the phone and I realized that she was aware of thrice daily feedings for a while, when he would need shots, etc. She lives 30 miles away from College Station and the ranch is 30 miles beyond College Station, so we decided to meet up at Tractor Supply on Saturday.

"After You"-- sold!

Danny rode with me from the farm to TSC, holding the soft buckling in his lap. We parked next to the buyers and made introductions, including the goat. He was an instant hit, making cute baby goat noises and snuggling his new owners. While standing there, a woman walked over.

"Is that a baby goat?" she asked. "Is it for sale? Do you have more? Do you have a card?"

For a moment, I was speechless. Someone was approaching me, asking to buy a goat! I told her I was out of cards, but wrote down my number and email address, telling her I hoped to have more kids for sale soon, and what type of goat was she looking for? (Note to self--- print some business cards).

Today, the whole family went to the ranch to check on the critters and throw some hay. Dan moved a round bale closer to the Triangle Pasture and I noticed one of the pygmy does looked closer to kidding (well, maybe). Half-hearted attempts to catch her for a physical exam failed, but Danny and I are going out tomorrow to work on the Middle Pasture, so we'll check then.

On the way home, we called in an order for burgers at Koppe Bridge Bar & Grill. It was early for dinner and we were the only customers, so I struck up a conversation with the barmaid. Naturally, the talk turned to goats and I learned she wanted to buy a pygmy goat (!!).  Well, I says, I have two pygmy does, ready to pop within the next few weeks! I'm out of cards, but could I drop one off for you in a couple of days? (Second note-- Business Cards!)

Dubble-Stuft   a pregnant pygmy

So, a potential buyer lined up before the kids hit the ground. The Dans wanted to know how I knew the girl wanted a goat, how the conversation turned to goats, but my pathetic explanation didn't satisfy their curiosity. What can I say? It's the gift of gab.

The farm needs to turn a profit, and selling goats is how that happens. I can always take goats to a livestock auction, but the price is uncertain, but costs are low at $6 per goat plus gas. I can also sell goats as pets, or as 4H projects (wethers), or as breeding stock, or as cabrito. There is also a buckling market for Muslim holidays. I feel that I will find my niche, which will probably include two or three of the markets. Now, for those business cards...

A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe?

Our Facebook followers know that things are hoppin' at el Rancho,. some good, some bad.

On Saturday the 8th, we arrived at el Rancho thinking we might have kids. Sadly, we found Red, a young doe bought at Navasota Auction, dead. No apparent trauma, illness or injuries. She was the loudest goat, always looking for attention. On Friday, she had been particularly clingy and, looking back, unloud. We did not do a necropsy, but sent Red to Valhalla on a pyre of yaupon and mesquite. Best I can figure is she ate something, ate too much of something, or just died. With the sale of Stupid, we were now at 16 goats.

On Sunday, the Dans began building a large shelter for the critters, one tall enough for the donkeys. While they drilled and bolted and nailed, I took the goats to the round pen and trimmed feet. It sure is a long row when many of them had feet that had never been trimmed, so I am doing them in stages. In the afternoon, I made a supply run to Bryan and when I returned, the rain was fierce. We left for the house, driving 25 mph most of the way.

On Monday, Danny and I finished roofing the shelter. I noticed Big Momma was aloof and showing some signs of kidding. I went to work for the afternoon and returned closer to dark. I found Big Momma deep in the brush with one kid! They looked fine, so I left her alone for a while. When I returned with towels and feedsacks, a second kid was born and I helped get the goo off his face. It was really getting cold and the ground was saturated from four inches of rain on Sunday. Finally, kid number three slid out and Big Momma and I worked to get them dried off. I finally had to leave and go home, but Big Momma seemed like she was doing a good job.

Tuesday morning about 4:30, I went to check on the kids (it's 30 miles to el rancho). On the way, I spotted Jupiter in the sky, near a sickle moon. When I found the little family in the brush, I noticed that the big buckling had a circle and sickle on his shoulders and back, and, well, he got a name-- Jupiter. The doeling was noticeably smaller and had weak back legs, apparently not uncommon in a multi-birth. She didn't have a strong sucking reflex. I went to work for a while and came back, to find Danny trying to get the doeling to take some colostrum from a bottle. She didn't like the nipples either one of us had, so I tube fed her about 60 ml of warm colostrum and this seemed to perk her right up. We moved the mom and kids to the round pen and prepared the dog house for the kids to lay in .

Magic Goat Hut and goat babies in dog house

On Wednesday morning, I again made the early morning jaunt and found all three kids doing well. Doeling was still shaky on the back legs, but I helped her get up and nurse a couple of times and was thankful I did not have to tube her. I also gave each kid a shot of CD antitoxin and one of Bovi-Sera since I did not know Big Momma's vaccination status and we didn't get hers complete until the 8th. Danny checked later in the day and I also went out at lunch. I weighed the kids by putting them in a cloth grocery sack and a hanging scale. Jupiter came in at 7#, 1 oz; buckling #2 weighed 6#, 2 oz.; and the little doeling barely hit 5# even.


Thursday and Friday, things were much warmer and the kids were starting to hop around. On Saturday after work, Dan built two Magic Goat huts. Each took two sheets of plywood and four 2x4s. They have a slightly sloped roof and about 16 square feet of floor space. Last night we put one in the round pen for Big Momma and one in the Middle Pasture for the goats.

Apparently someone there was miffed and kicked out part of the wall in the larger goat/donkey shelter. Hmmmm. Wonder who?









We ended the week on a high note. The kids each gained two pounds! In five and a half days!

Good Momma.

All the adult goats got their final pneumonia vaccine booster shot today as well.

Fancy got a new toy.

Billy BA's latest love, Fea

And Billy BA is making sure there will be many more baby goats this spring.


Nineteen goats and counting.

Intermezzo

Electric cross fencing

Well we are at a spot where we can take a little breather.

We finished perimeter and cross fencing on the 4041 piece. Dan estimates over 1.1 miles of fence, six gates, one solar charger, 10,000 feet of barbed wire. With the cross fencing up, we can manage the livestock and better control vegetation and worms.

We have utilities: water (clean and cold!), electric, and now AT&T 4G service! Plus a fiberglas septic tank and some field lines.

We have livestock: three donkeys and 18 goats. Yep, we have three more. Fred and Gwen, at Rancho Volsas Basias (Guaranteed to have four legs and a tail or double your money back) near Buffalo, sold me three large does, two are 50% registered Boer. Danny and I picked them up on Saturday while Dan put a rebuilt starter in Old Blue and he fired right up!
(Blue is back on staff!).

The three latest additions to the herd

The new gals are open, so Billy has work to do. Hopefully they will be bred by January. None of the pregnant goats have had babies.

We bought some pipe goat panels and have used the 'round pen' a lot. On our first round of vaccinations, we got all the animals in there and worked them in the big pen.




We haven't had time to build or plan a permanent working area, but the Dans came through with improvising a darn good plan.  They disconnected two panels and spread them apart about three feet. Then, they drove in pipes used for  chain linking and hung a three foot gate. Then they took three panels to make a room  off the little gate. Genuis!

We have a working pen! This created an offshoot 'room' where I could put a goat, lock them in, and take care of them.  Our only real problem is Stupid, one of the most ignorant animals I've ever owned. He's a polled pygmy buck whose ambition in life is to irritate all people and animals as much as possible. He is not long for this herd and we think he finally figured out we don't like him. Anyway, we herded the goats to the round pen and then escorted the donks out. We also escorted Stupid out. What a difference! The goats were all instantly calm, munching on hay, snoozing and ruminating. Very pastoral! In my little room I had a box with vaccines, wormer, ropes, and hoof trimmers. (Did you know a Texmati plastic box makes a great sharps container?).  This confirmed a unanimous decision to take Stupid to Navasota Auction next week. The donks did enjoy chasing him when he got annoying with them...

Danny helped me work the animals. First, we opened the little gate and amazingly, a doe just walked right in! I put a rope halter on her and tied her to the rail, gave her shots, wormer and trimmed her feet. Almost too good to be true! (I don't have a goat stand yet, but Dan said he'll build one later!). We turned her back into the round pen and starting working them one after another. The pygmy does were harder to catch, but overall things went great. Danny was a big help, holding horns and helping drive them in the little room. All of these goats were in dire need of hoof trimming. I didn't get all of them trimmed today, but will chip away at it this month. Plus, some needed a little trimming, followed soon by more because they were too overgrown to trim completely today.

Oh, and we are official. We ear tagged 'Baby' with our official Texas scrapies tag. We are herd #TX 25843

Baby gets tag number one!

So, it's intermezzo, which only means we slow down a bit. Up next is building Danny's house, selling our Brazos County house, and fencing the 4057 property.

Water, electricity, and MORE GOATS!

 When we bought the 14 acres next door, we knew there was an old well there, but the seller did not make any guarantees on it. The cost of drilling a well is really steep, so we hoped we would end up with a well that worked... The well house is long gone, but they had put cattle panels around the wellhead to keep out livestock and deer. The yaupon, however, had completely covered the area. After we closed on the land, Dan began cleaning up the area and found that the pressure tank looked fine, but we still had no electricity. He also found part of an old septic system with field lines.  In order to test the pump, we needed electricity, thus necessitating the services of an electrician. Doesn't sound too hard, right? Wrong!

I think Danny called two or three electricians who siad they would call him back and never did. You'd think there was no recession going on. I finally did phone-a-friend on TexAgs.com and "Dubi" came through with a great referral in Atlas Electric in Bryan.

I spoke with the owner and described what we needed and then an electrician worked with Danny on setting up a time. On Friday, he met with the electrician and we got a 200 amp box, two GFI weather resistant convenience outlets, and, more importantly, power to the well!  Danny called Bluebonnet Electric and the lineman came right out and connected power to our box. That afternoon,the Dans went out and started it up and the pump started pumping and the water started flowing! We needed about three dollars worth of plumbing parts and we were in business. Today, we ran the water into a gully for about an hour. The water is clear and cool and very tempting!  However, knowing that the well has been open a while, we are going to have the water tested before we taste any of its goodness. Having water and electricity places us much closer to Danny building his house! We also won't have to haul water for the livestock! Amazing how handy first-world utilities are!

Speaking of livestock, I've been scouring the Brazos Valley looking for does. I visited one place in Grimes County where the woman said she had 30 goats and needed to sell a couple to relieve overcrowding. Well, it was pretty crowded all right: eight cows, one bull, 30 goats of various breeds, ages, and sizes, seven turkeys, at least 50 ducks, two Great Pyranees guardian dogs, 12 guineas, three kittens, a llama, innumerable chickens, and a miniature weiner dog. Oh, yeah, and a macaw. All in one enclosure. Wow.  One Boer doe had two kids, just a few days old, and they were being trampled by large dairy goats. The woman remarked that one was limping. Well, duh! Needless to say, I let her know the next day that I didn't think they would fit into my herd.

At an impasse, I blindly contacted a guy with a $1000 buck for sale on Craigslist, asking for advice on where to buy does. He not only emailed me back, he gave me some leads on commercial breeders in Burleson County. I called one man who said he did not sell fewer than ten at $250 each because it wasn't worth his time. He suggested I go to Navasota  Livestock Auction.

Of course! I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner.  The auction is open most Saturdays and is well-attended. I went yesterday just for a little reconnaissance. I saw lots of goats, including goats that looked like they might fit into my herd. I hadn't planned to buy goats, but I did!  They sold at least 35 goats on Saturday, and I got five of them. The auction starts with goats (lucky for me!) and the first two out of the shoot were two white dairy goats from the Grimes County place I visited on Thursday! I saw the woman sitting down front. The next goat out was a very pregnant Boer with a nice udder and I was the high bidder for her. The woman turned around and glared. Guess she was mad I didn't spend money on her goats! I ended up with five does: the pregnant traditional one, a white spotted LaMancha cross (can't miss those ears! Oh, they ARE missing..), a pregnant Boer cross, a red Boer cross, and a traditional Boer doeling.  We picked them up on Sunday and left them in the trailer for a while, so they calm down from the highway ride. When I opened the door, they jumped right out, eager to eat and greet.

Jumping out at Asno Blanco

So now, time to plan the nursery. The new Boer looks ready to pop and should kid within the week. The agouti pygmies (I call them the Oreos) are both pregnant and are anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks out. I am pretty sure that the two young does I bought with Billy (Doll and Belle) were exposed in October. As for the others, only time will tell.

Finally, I contacted the State Veterinarian's Office and was issued a herd number for the Scrapies Eradication program. They will be sending me All-Flex eartags with my herd number and individual numbers. As soon as they arrive, I can start tagging the herd. My big question involves the LaManchas--- do I tag their ears?

Goats!

Oreo and ??

We have a herd! Last week we picked up six goats and this week we picked up four more. I still need about four or five more meat does, but we are definitely in the goat business.

The first six were bought for cheap off Craigslist and are pygmy/Nigerian dwarf goats. One polled black buck, a brown nanny, two black agouti does, a white La Mancha wether, and a tan wether.  I found them in Navasota, about a zillion miles down a narrow gravel road. The owner was selling them. He had a good perimeter fence, but was surprised that the goats were eating the wooden posts holding up the porch on his fake log cabin house. Duh. When we drove up, Dan noticed a horse standing on the front porch. We got a little closer and discovered there were two horses on the porch (the sorrel was camouflaged against the faux logs). I had to move the palomino to ring the doorbell, but they weren't home. 

Brown doe, Whitey, Stupid and wether

Went around back and saw that one doe had jumped out of the three foot high pen he built. The palomino tried to help me corral her, but we ended up waiting for the guy to come home and help us shove them all in the trailer. Don't think this guy knew much about livestock. The wife said the horses get on the porch and ring the doorbell, which is kinda funny, but odd.  This was a weeknight and by the time we got to the farm, it was very dark. We pulled in, opened the trailer and had to drag them out. The donkeys were not well-pleased. At all. No-sirree-Bob. We left the trailer at the farm with the door open to give the goats a place to hang out. 

Things settled down a bit after a few days. This week, we picked up a boer buck, two boer-type does, and a huge white wether from a woman in Wellborn. I visited her one day and liked the two-year old buck. She also had the two does. I made an offer to buy the buck on the condition she sell me the does, too. I could tell she was attached to Belle and Doll, but she had decided to go with dairy goats instead of meat goats. The next day, she let me know that she would part with them. We rolled up to her mansion and loaded the girls in the trailer, thinking it would be easier to load the buck if the girls were on board. Dan backed the trailer to the gate in the buck pen and we got his large self loaded. At that point, the seller turns to me and says, "You need to take Billy (he's the wether). He's too rowdy for the dairy does and he'll be lonely." Uh, okay. So we loaded him, too. 

Doll and Belle

This time, we got to the farm and it wasn't quite dark. The donkeys and goats were hanging out together in the picnic area like old friends. We opened the trailer and got the buck out. The two does are like teenage girls at a party who don't know anyone, all skittish and noisy. We stayed a while to make sure the two bucks would not kill one another.

Oreo and Billy Bad

Today, I got out to the farm and saw the donkeys near the fence when I drove up. I rolled down the window and told them to meet me at the picnic area. They never showed, so I went looking for them. Found them guarding the goats! Convinced them to come with me and the entire herd followed me to the round pen. Gave the donks their boosters first and turned them out. I coerced the goats into the pen and shut the gate. For the first time ever, Molly McButter (momma donkey) started making donkey sounds! The donks were distraught, so I let them in the pen with the goats. Then we gave the first six goats their initial 8-way vaccine (the boers were already vaccinated). So thankful for the help from the Dans in catching and holding critters. I realize that I really need a goat stand/headpiece to use to do this work. Most need a hoof trim, so that's on my list of things to get.

Oh, the names? Well, they are acquiring names.

Stupid-- what both Dans said when the little black buck walked up to the boer buck with an attitude.

Stupid and Billy Bad

Quisling- the large white wether-- D3 noticed he's always looking out for himself. 

Billy Bad A$$- the Boer buck. 

Belle and Doll- the yearling Boer does came with these names and answer to them.

Whitey- the other white wether. Likes to lock horns with Quisling

Oreo- original name of one of the pygmy does. She a black agouti with a white middle.

So the three without names are the brown Nigerian/pygmy doe (she is the head doe in this herd), the tan wether, and the other black agouti doe.

I have applied for a Scrapies herd number and plan to tag all of them, especially the kids, who will NOT have names... 

It's Fence-able

Quick note that summer officially got to Texas about a week ago-- yellow flowers predominating (I'll blog about that soon) and the thermometer pushing 100 degrees were pretty strong clues. However,  there's been a lot of El Rancho progress this week, so I decided to get to that first!


Progress!  That's what I like! What a busy, productive ten days. The last weekend of April, Dan and I went to El Rancho and worked pulling and stacking brush. Very tedious trying to clear along our property line because we can't drag the brush down the road. These maneuvers involved tight turns and limited space for two tractors.

So, we talked about finding a brush crusher smasher mulcher to come and do the work for us. I figured there had to be someone nearby, so I threw out a request for a rec on TexAgs on Monday, talked to Todd on Tuesday, met him after work on Wednesday, and he showed up to do the work on Friday! I am so delighted with the work. What would have taken us several weekends (months and months!) to do is taking him a day and a half. In addition to clearing all four fence lines, he will chomp a path across the middle for a major cross fence. "Brush bustin' " pictures are on the El Rancho facebook page,

Speaking of fencing, the Board at Producers Coop met on April 30 and they decided I was in! I got the letter on Thursday. This means that I am now a partial owner of the Coop and will share in the profit based on how much I spent that year. What a deal! Plus, they have some great workshops and a wonderful feed mill. We had already decided to buy a few thousand dollars of fencing material there, so now it will be even cheaper!


On Friday at lunch, I went out to El Rancho to see how the brush chomping was going. While I was there, my neighbor, Frank Leggio, drove by and stopped to chat. He'd just gotten my letter asking about tying into and improving the fence line we share. Knock yourself out, girl, he says, then goes on to say we might think about tying into his lake so we would have water too! I'm so fortunate to have a great neighbor. And, speaking of neighbors, when we were out showing Todd the scope of work, our other neighbor's mom stopped by and we chatted about her son's new offshore job. Found out he'll be here next weekend, so we'll get a chance to discuss common projects (he has a barndo in progress right now).  My third neighbor, Rodney, also stopped and let us know he has sold his 20 acre place and filled us in on the new neighbors who will be living there. Fingers crossed that they will be great too!

On Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday, we burned brush piles, walked the fence lines and made a shopping list for fencing materials. Dan got to meet Mr. Leggio and I discovered that he is a retired Arson Investigator from Houston and we have a common acquaintance from his HFD days! How's that for a small world! We are going to start on the Leggio side first as it will be the most challenging (taking fence down, inserting some new posts, pulling goat wire, and keeping his cows in!).

All this work has sped up our goat acquisition calendar. Learned today that it's a good practice to not move bred does to a new place and to not breed does until they've been at the place for two or three months. Allows them to adjust to the new forage and browse, as well as the new worms. So, if I can get some does by September, we can be all set for spring kids! Closer to fence, one t-post at a time...

"Placing" El Rancho

Anytime Dan and I go out to El Rancho, we typically check-in at fb with our phones, sometimes including pictures. So, we had a "place" on fb and could tell friends to follow directions to el rancho. Then we made a facebook page for el rancho. Dan went to merge the two and the fb gods asked him for a copy of a utility or phone bill, address, incorporation papers, vendor lien and whatnot. I've been trying to merge the page and place for my office for three months, so I knew it might be a battle.

I figure a digital presence can only help show intention and be helpful. I'll whip up a webpage and later I can use it to market my goatlings. In my research I learned that when doing taxes, feed, fence, tractors are deductible if it's a farm with a business plan that occasionally makes a profit but it's a hobby if it doesn't make a profit and you can't deduct a hobby. (Thanks, Purdue!). 

In true Severn fashion, he fired back a missive to the fb gods about why he could supply none of those things for his goat farm.... (goats do not answer the phone, it's legal to farm in Texas without a license, I don't wanna...) and it worked!  So, we now have a complete fb page, a webpage and this blog!

El Rancho is definitely a work in progress, literally and digitally, so my work is cut out for me (had to throw a needlecraft idiom in here somewhere!). Keeping this blog will keep be on task, kinda like if you don't tell anyone you're working out or on a weight-loss diet, you can procrastinate. Once you throw it out to the world, you're committed!  

UPDATE:  Read a story in The Eagle this morning about a sinkhole in Bryan. Need to keep an eye on our 'water feature' at el rancho and definitely not put a house there!

Water---

Owning land in the country that you plan to live on  is different than buying an 1800 square foot ranch-style in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Most city folks don't give a thought about water most days, but we will have to drill a well and keep our water potable. We have neighbors on two sides with different water in their wells. One has good, sweet water; the other has water full of rust!  I have contacted a couple of well drillers and can't wait to find out what they project on costs... probably a five-figure amount. 


Electricity is readily available on our property, so that's a wonderful thing! Plus, it's an electric co-op, Bluebonnet Electric.  But first, water.