Poor neglected blog...

Life had been busy at the farm. Baby is finally now feeding on her own. It's been a long slow process from having to hold Belle immobile while baby nursed to slowly getting her used to the baby nursing on her own. But thankfully it's working. She gaining weight and growing just as she should be. And life can get back to something other then goats 24/7.

It's finally looking and feeling like spring. It so nice to have longer days and not feel like it's almost bedtime as soon as I get home. It's just not quite warm enough to get outside and play yet. I've finally figure out where I want to put my raised beds and now I'm just waiting for Jay to 'buy off' on it. I want to use a part of the driveway/parking area that's directly in front of the house. I want to place the beds in a square with an open place in the middle for benches. Eventually adding trellis to go around it all. It's also close to the water tap and I can get Jay to run irrigation out to it. I think I'll just go and buy the timbers and get things going. Jay hasn't agreed yet but he also hasn't said no either. This is a trick I learned from him. It's hard to stop something already in progress.

Work has been slow and quiet. Not too worrisome as it's normally quiet this time of year. We've had the guys working on the new office so it's almost ready to move into. They'll texture and paint this weekend and the carpet will be layed next week. It's good we had something for the guys to do during the slow time but paying salaries with out money coming in can only last a SHORT while. Two big commercial jobs start next week and that should carry us into summer - thank goodness.

We got our taxes back from the accountant on Monday and were pleasantly surprised that we had in fact saved more than enough to cover them. I was a bit nervous. We need to get better about projecting what they'll be. I don't like that feeling of not knowing. Thinking about that, I just now realised the whole first quarter has gone and we don't even have a plan yet for next year! Eeek!

I really haven't got anything newsie to tell. Things have just been humming along. I wanted to get something posted as I don't normally go for ten days with out a post. I haven't even looked at my google reader for days - I'm sure it's completely out of control. I'll get to that after I get today's paper work done.

Still haven't replaced the camera yet. I just know as soon as I do we'll find the receipt for the broken one. I'll do something about it this week. I don't want to miss any more goatie baby picture moments. I'll post something soon.

Hope your doing good!

B

Nothin Much

We woke up to snow again yesterday morning. Luckily the monster sizes flakes were falling to a ground temperature of about 40* so nothing stuck. Typical weird spring weather here. The afternoon brought lots of wind and gusts. I spent part of the afternoon watching the two Doug Firs that were planted about 15 feet from either side of the house 90+ years ago. They've been trimmed over the years to protect them from high winds but they still really get to moving in a storm. Every time we have a windstorm I think that maybe they should come down. I'd hate to do it but it's better then getting crushed in the house.

A pretty quiet weekend all and all. My Sister is up visiting from Florida and she and my mother stopped by for a while. Aside from that, there weren't too many goat visitors this weekend. The baby is doing good. I think we've settled on the name Silver Moon for the marking on her nose that at first looked like a moon but not so much anymore. She'll probably end up with a weird nick-name like Moonie. She's a feisty little baby and very human socialized. Too much so if you ask me. She's growing and changing quickly just like any baby I suppose. She jumps and spins and tries to head butt. She's also a cuddler, always wants to climb up into your lap. Good, cheap, farmy entertainment I tell you.

I found my new desk on Friday. I'd been looking for weeks. I wanted a plain old wood desk with a center 'pencil' drawer. As easy as it sounds it was tough to find. Most of the used office furniture places now sell pieces of cubicles and apparently the modern worker no longer needs a pencil drawer. The one I found is pretty cool. All wood with a fine grain that I can't identify yet. It's large (huge!) and from the 1940's I'm guessing. At least that's what the drawer pulls and styling look like. I took the big company truck back out to Greenlake today to pick it up. Luckily the store owner was nice and helped me get it loaded up. I would have seriously hurt myself trying to move it on my own. Once I got it back to the new office I took a better look at it. There's something about old furniture that intrigues me. I was hoping this piece would have something lost inside or something unique about it. When I took out the center drawer I found the remnants of tape and a torn corner of an envelope that had been stuck to the bottom of it. I love this kind of stuff. I wonder what was hidden there and what kind of stories my desk could tell?

Hello

I've been having a hard time posting lately. Not that I don't feel like it, I'm just tired of hearing myself talk. Talk, type whatever. You ever get like that? I've been thinking about it a bit lately and I find myself just wanting to be quiet and listen. I guess it's part of getting older and maybe more mature. I sure wish I knew this or thought these things say about 20 years ago. Better late then never I suppose. I don't mind getting older. I seem (to me at least) to be happier as I get older. I have more patience with people. It's easier to see others opinions and opposing views. I'm appreciating things more then I did when I was younger. Nothing deep or moving here, just thoughts. I guess the best part for me in learning and having these 'skills' (?) is that it's balanced by still feeling like a kid. Still loving to play and be silly. I've said it before (and I'll say it again) I don't think you really ever grow up when your not a parent.

ANYWAY...

It's all goat, all the time here lately. I feel sorry for the little thing and seem to be the only one who thinks they should be left alone as much as possible and not handled. Hard to do when everyone and their brother wants to come by and hold the cute baby. I say my piece and just stand back and keep out of the way.

Feedings are nearly every hour when were at home, every two when were not. Jay stops by the house during the day while were at work. Momma really seems to have all the mothering instincts down except for the nursing. Nursing now consists of Jay hold Belle immobile while Lolli or I keep the little one on her teet, getting as much milk as quickly as she can. The Vet says to keep at it and eventually Momma will relent and let baby feed on her own. Hard to believe it's only day 3.

Today baby started to show some real activity. Chasing after Momma in the paddock yard and trying to do an unassisted launches off the ground. She jumps straight up in the air, testing her legs I suppose. It's hysterical to watch. No real name yet but Lolli & Jay have taken to calling her Moon-xxx - Moon-whatever strikes them at the moment. This comes from the light marking on her nose which at first resembled a star but has grown into a half moon - We'll see, I think we should get to know her personality a little better before we name her.

I'd post more pics but Mr. Man dropped my (new) camera in the goat barn and it no longer works. He say he bought the insurance for it when he bought it a Christmas but where the receipt might be is any ones guess.

Hope your all doing good -

B

Ma Belle

I know I haven't posted in a week - Lots to tell but right now we're busy with this little girl.

Belle went into labor yesterday. Jay delivered her first this morning, unfortunately breech and still born. He got her to the Vet. who was able to save one of the two remaining kids. Belle's a bit traumatised, as you would think. Now it's just a matter of getting baby to nurse or we'll be bottle feeding. Come on kid!

A Slacker's Friday

The morning was looking pretty grim. Not for the weather outside because it is an awesome spring-like day here today. You would never know we had 4" of snow yesterday morning. It was looking grim because I had finished most of my work yesterday and it was looking like a whole lot of hours stretching out in front of me till the end of the day.

Luckily Jay solved that with a un-planned road trip for me to go down to Tacoma to pick up parts. I'd been chatting (IM'ing) with Kathy about mountains this morning so my goal was to get some pictures on the way down. After deciding to live rather then attempt to photograph Mt. Rainer from I-5, I came up with a different plan.

So after I drove 45 south to pick up the parts, only to find out I that I then had to drive north for an hour to deliver them I decided to stop here: (click on the pictures to make bigger)

This Stair-Master wannabe is the old water tower that sits in Volunteer Park in downtown Seattle.

Local history: Volunteer Park was so name for the men who volunteered to fight in the Spanish American war. They gathered at this site to sign up to fight. The land that the park sits on, and the adjacent cemetery was once set aside in a bid for the state capitol. A fight that Seattle lost to the current state capital Olympia.

Here's why it's worth the climb.

Holy Names & St. Joe's

South Bellevue & Lake Washington

Mt. Rainer

Kirkland & The 520 floating bridge

Downtown Bellevue & The Cascade foothills

Downtown Seattle

I still need to work on my camera skills. I'm sure it must take better color shots then this. It's a 360* view from up there at one of the highest points in the city. I miss living downtown sometimes - like today.

My birthday is tomorrow, thank you for the birthday greetings. I'll be 46. My mother and her husband are taking us out for dinner and to a jazz club tonight. Their friend owns the club and step-papa's paying so I'm sure we'll have a great time. I'm not sure what Jay has up his sleeve but I'll let you know.

I took the video below last night while Jay was out in the goat barn. Yes, we now have a baby monitor in the barn. I didn't post it last night because I was laughing so hard while taking the shot it almost seems mean, like I'm laughing AT him - not the case. I'm laughing because he's just so dang sweet. I might lose my nerve and pull it. Jay does look at this blog every once in a while and he'd skin me alive if he knew I posted this.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I can't wait to get back out into the SUN!

Meanwhile...Out in the barn

Speaker on?

He turns into a big kid around the animals.

My Day (or) Why I Hate The Department Of Planning

Yup - time for Mr. Crankypants again.

I heard on the news last week that the city is reducing staff at Ye Old Permit Office. Well, this makes sense - no money floating around means no new buildings being built and equals no need for permits. I did not however think of the downstream impact. I went downtown last week to get a simple permit to install an exhaust fan. No big deal. There are different kinds of permits. 'Over The Counter' for simple stuff, and Full Plan Review for more complex jobs. (i.e. leave your first born) One type of the OTC permits is called a 'Subject To Field Inspection' or STFI - yes, they call it a 'Stiffy', it's supposed to be the simplified permit to save us all money.

There are a myriad of rules applicable to each type of permit. The Department of Planing posts these rules on what the call 'Customer Assistance Memos' or CAM's. Now these rules are all suppose to be followed for each permit but once you've been getting permits for a while you learn which pieces of information you really need as opposed to what's in the CAM. And by 'learn' I mean you get tired of watching the counter staff tear apart your permit application packet, tossing what they don't feel they need. It's completely arbitrary how they enforce the rules and totally depends on who you get at the counter. Oh, and just to make it interesting they can, and do change the rules at their whim and do not update the CAM or notify their customers.

Woe to those who might be tempted to point out to the ridiculous-ness of it all to the counter staff, your going to have to deal with these folks again. Believe it or not these people know me, and pretend to like me. Lovely.

So I go in last week with my dinky little permit application for a job that has a total cost under a $1000. The first new twist is that they now require a schematic drawing of the work. The dude hands me a blank sheet of paper. (?) He thinks I can scratch this out on the counter. Like I have all the measurements in my head. (???) Not knowing any of the details of the job, I tuck tail and head back to the office. Jay will have to draw them up. So we get that together and I go back in today with my little drawing and application packet and I'm told that I also need the legal description of the property. Ok, I can handle that. It's on the application form, always has been, no matter that they've never required it before. The gal gives me the phone number of the city agency that has that information. So after dialing the number and wading through the 7 part telephone dialing tree. I get to the right department and I'm told the description is too long to give out over the phone. I'll need to look it up online and print it out. The funny part you ask? They are asking me for information that they already have in their own computer system!

So! Fine. I head back to my house as it's closer than the office and print out my legal descriptions and go back to the permit office. Now bear in mind the cost of the permit and the labor to get them is charged to the customer. So the city has just cost the customer double my labor on top of the permit cost that is already about 1/5 of the total project. What it really comes down to is they're positions are under scrutiny so they are going to go by the book the whole way. If it takes twice as long to get a permit, fine it's no matter to them. It's job security.

I finally leave victorious with my permit in hand and start the climb back up the 8, long, up hill blocks, in the rain, to my car. I'm with in sight of it. I've almost made it and...

a pigeon poops on me.

I'm certain it's in the employ of The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development.

The End.