first, the Sheep/Goat woman. her name is Jan. and she was/is perfect. No nonsense. stayed an hour and a half, tho a couple times i made an opening for her to leave gracefully. but she didn't. she was
INTERESTED!!!!!! oh, Joy! Interested. But in a very Plain Quiet way. She is a Plain Quiet woman.
i know now where she lives. over in Escondida. i didn't catch, if she said, but that would mean she has either 20 acres or 40. Unless something has changed that i don't know about, that's how land over there is divided. At this time, she raises Hair Sheep, and again, i didn't catch the breed. but if you're interested, you can google hair sheep. Meat sheep. she has a steady clientele. they basically are organic tho she is not certified. Then, she has 4 Angora Goats left. she is a weaver and spinner who has no time to weave and spin. but she's kept 4. and then, last but not least, she has 2 Nigerian Dwarf Does for her home dairy.
She's very pragmatic. Very serious about the meaning of Animal Husbandry. i'll find out more in the future of her "history", but she has tried things that just didn't work. and she is not at all opposed to Change. if it doesn't work, Change it. and she has. again, i don't know how long its taken her to reach the point she's come to. she didn't start that way.
i had basically 3 questions for her that i'd written down on paper. The first was if she were going to be moving in here, bringing 19 goats, what would she change. spatially. what would she do differently. Answer: it's good. it's not 20 acres. but it's fine. add rocks to the way back. for hooves.
2. Scurs. LONG conversation about these. and she offered to come and help me disbud if i decide to breed for spring. Her sheep all have horns. because of their form, it's not an issue. and also, because they are meat, it's not an issue. so..more about scurs later. but the final thought was i should get a horse hoof trimmer from the feed store and clip them myself. eeee.
3. my other major question was reintegrating the two milking does and their doelings with the rest of the herd. and she simply reitterated what i already knew…WHO KNOWS how it will go. but the really good thing about talking with her…talking WITH her…was that things can't always be great with livestock. stuff happens. and she pointed out that really, i have been incredibly lucky. but to understand that stuff happens. no matter how we try to cover all the possibilities. it goes how it goes. So, This was very very good.
and then i added a 4. about letting the kids become meat. and this is a HUGE issue and i am not ready to "go there" right now. but the talking helped me a LOT. So…it was GREAT. and soon, i can go visit her place. look. Look. yes.
and the rest of the day, when i wasn't sleeping, it was Kantha. there is maybe a half inch at the bottom not stitched. i am thinking. i don't know. but if i leave it unstitched, it will fray. and that fray may be very beautiful. but here we are. and tomorrow morning, i can begin USING her.
and i think this "cold" is really a flu. Everything ached today. my face. my hands. all my bones. just this dull aching. and i thought about that all day, about how i am rarely sick and how i think it's probably a good thing, this now and then Descending of Bad Germs that take me Out. there's something important to understand about that. The Goats were very kind. Many of them came up and put their faces against me in a certain way. i must have felt weak to them? i don't know. but it was nice. this kindness from them.
windthread 
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