Kiddos spent the weekend with mom, as there was a charity walk event they wanted to participate in. I usually go, but this year, I couldn’t manage it, so they got Nana time. Husband and I spent time just TOGETHER, which is always a lovely treat. Our stated goal was to eat like potentates and do absolutely nothing. And for Friday evening and Saturday, that is precisely what we did.

Yesterday -Sunday- was our usual workday/laundry/showers day at mom’s. We’re making good progress on the goat pen. The wire was backordered, which is a big bummer, but as the shed itself was delivered this week, we were able to get the gateposts set in place and Siko’d in. Goats love to challenge gates, but these ones ain’t budging. Rocks and Siko. Solid. The fence spans are coming along well, too. Each span has 3 or more wooden cross-bars, to which the wire will be attached whenever it gets here.

Marketplace yielded free shingles and slabwood for repairing the shed. Shed was super cheap because it needs a wee bit TLC, but nothing overly complicated. Some roof patching, reshingling, a hole in the floor fixed, some siding repair needed, and since it was not built with goats in mind, the inside needs some reinforcing if we don’t want Maggie to KoolAid man through the wall. Because she totally would. Slabwood to the rescue!

We still need 2 fenceposts, but it is definitely looking like an actual fenced pen now. Plenty of trees for shade and for the girls to eat, plenty of things to climb on, headbutt, and explore. It’s coming. IF the weather cooperates, IF health matters cooperate, IF things come together, IF the wire shows up, another couple weeks should see it well on its way to finished.

We got a good portion of the new privacy fence up, too. Yay for free, solid pallets. It looks GOOD. (I forgot to take a photo. Next week). Not only does it provide a visual barrier from the increasing number of new neighbours in that area, but it should help keep the animals contained in the back yard when (not if) they escape the pens. Which means, mom’s trees in the front yard should stop getting eaten to nubbins and the garden might not get dug up by adventuresome chickens.

It’s coming.

On the homefront, I was walking the orchard late last week to see how things are doing. Almost everything is leafing out and looking healthy and happy. The haskaps are almost finished blossoming, the apples are just beginning, the serviceberry (one variety, anyway) is LOADED with blossom. I did realize that of all my shrubs and trees, I only have ONE, extremely small, black currant. That will NEVER do. We love black currant jam in this household and ONE shrub will never meet the demand. I happened to be at the garden center on Friday, checking into something else, and inquired as to the current pricing on currant bushes. It just so happened that they were on sale that day, buy one get one half off. Being a responsible plant addict, I had the shopclerk fetch them to the counter for me, rather than me wandering around to be tempted by other things. So today, I have two new bushes to find places for and set in the ground.

We’re still waiting on the steamroller operator to get around to us. I’m hoping he has the time free very soon. Getting the shells fully crushed and the driveway useable again means we can bring the rest of our furniture out of the truck and get it removed. One less monthly bill to pay.

We asked the neighbour if he would like to pasture his horses in our unused field for a while. His pasture is really too small for three horses, and our field needs the regeneration of intensive grazing coupled with liberal application of manure. He was happy to do so, and got his new fenceline installed over the weekend, so the horses are happy and the soil should see some improvement over the next several months. I asked him to let me know when they have cropped it down super short, and I will go in with the broadcast seeder and a good-quality pasture seed mix. Let the horses do the work.

The grass here is getting too tall to leave unmowed much longer, so I’ll have to start that rotation again soon. It may take me weeks to get the orchard mowed a single time, but too much mowing is bad anyway. It is lovely to see the long, lush greenery though.

I still need to get the mulch mats cut for all the new trees, too. Maybe I’ll tackle that this week.

But now -to the orchard. Got to go plant those shrubs.