January
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| January was the month we got my wood cookstove going. |
We spent most of the January on the kitchen remodel. While waiting on the new plank flooring to be delivered, we accomplished a lot of little things. We installed the tin ceiling in the dining nook, and modified our hodge-podge floor cabinets. We got the wood cookstove going! I harvested my homegrown ginger for the first time. January was also the month we had to make a difficult decision about our rooster situation.
February
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| The goats were totally suspicious of the new critter |
The big news for February was that we got a puppy. After the next door neighbor's dog climbed our fence and chased our goats and chickens, we decided we needed a livestock guardian dog. Kris was a Bernese Mountain, Anatolian Shepherd, Pyrenees mix. The long awaited kitchen floor finally arrived. In the meantime we started to make plans for the hall bathroom. We also used our leftover tin ceiling panels to make cabinet doors for the kitchen.
March
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| Cutting boards to fit around the wood cookstove hearth |
Our old kitchen floor had a lot of problems, but after much preparation, we installed our new wide plank kitchen floor. We got started on our pasture improvement program, and I prepared for compost worms. In puppy news, Kris developed "Kennel Cough." I also discovered he was allergic to corn (a common ingredient in commercial dogfood).
April
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| Riley's April Wordless Wednesday |
In April we stained and polyed the new kitchen floor. We installed the base cabinets and finished the compost worm bed, ready for the arrival of the worms. Kris's hind leg became swollen from (we think) bug bites. A prescription for antihistamines took care of that.
May
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| Kris, 5 months, & Kody, 4 months |
In May, we took in a Great Pyrenees puppy, Kody, becoming a two dog homestead. Kris developed elbow dysplasia, which was worrisome, but we discovered gelatin as a treatment for arthritis pain. We had goat problems too, when Jasmine broke her leg. In the kitchen, we installed the sink and finished the plumbing, I lined the cabinet shelves with vinyl floor tiles, we got the wall cabinets up, also wall shelves, and Dan built the peninsula.
June
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| In June, we harvested peaches & dealt with peach problems |
In June we made more progress on the kitchen remodel: a problem led to a pull-out spice rack, Dan trimmed out the sink window, made a utensil rack, and accomplished numerous little things. We had a difficult decision to make about Jasmine when her leg didn't heal properly. I also tried to break a broody hen for the first time.
July
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| Mama Chicken & Chicken Little |
In July, my persistent broody hen hatched one egg. It was the month Kody killed one of my chickens and had to be returned to his former owner. I also bought my 1st two Nigerian Dwarf goats. We faced a test in true preparedness when Dan lost his job. Since we had no money to work on the kitchen remodel, we started gutting the bathroom instead. In July I also lost my computer from a lightning strike.
August
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| Edy & Nessie, my new Nigerian Dwarf does |
August was definitely a better month, except for losing Kris. That was devistating. On top of his other problems, Kris contracted Lymes Disease. This was compounded by severe anemia, for which the vet could not find a cause. Later, as I tried to piece together all the clues, my suspicions leaned toward some sort of auto-immune disease. In better news, Dan got his old job back and was compensated for all the money we thought we lost. I also received a new computer. In goat news, I bought two more Nigerian Dwarf does. In the kitchen, Dan made a new dish rack. Outside, we had the dead limbs cut back from one of our two ancient oaks and made plans for a new place to store firewood.
September
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| A privacy fence is the perfect place to stack firewood |
September, we pronounced firewood month. We finished our new privacy fence / firewood storage, as well as cutting, chopping, and stacking the coming winter's firewood. We also revised our homestead master plan.
October
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| Remineralizing the soil is part of our land stewardship |
We finally got back to the kitchen remodel in October and tackled the last two projects. When Kinder goat breeding was looking unsuccessful for the second year in a row, I sold my Nigerian Dwarfs except Ziggy, and purchased a Kiko buck and another Nubian doe. In October, we finally got the last of the soil amendments to remineralize our pasture, tilled them in, and planted it. In October I discovered kefir.
November
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| I love my new kitchen, but admit it was a huge project. |
In November our kitchen remodel was finally done. Dan didn't miss a beat but started preparing to work on the bathroom shortly after that. He added a girder to support the bathroom and bedroom floors, and repaired the water damage to the bathroom floor itself.
December
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| Our new bathroom window |
It didn't rain for weeks after we planted the pasture, but finally on December 1st, I had the first growth to show you. We mostly worked on the bathroom remodel this month: window, ceiling, ventilation, electrical, and plumbing. We also got the wall paneling installed (photos and details about that soon).
All in all it's been a busy, if not memorable year. In spite of problems, we have much to be thankful for, and that includes all of you. :)
2012: Year In Review © December 2012
