Well, after talking to the neighbor that we buy our hay from, I have decided to try round bales this year. He has some weedy second cutting hay that didn't turn out very well this year, so I told him I would see how the goats like it. That means I get to play with some tools this weekend to build a "hay port." It will be like a car port, except it will be housing a round bale of hay and have enough of an overhang that the goats can eat without getting wet when it rains. I have already designed it up in my head, and then transferred my idea to paper. I will be cleaning the coops in the morning, and then heading to Lowe's to go lumber shopping, and Tractor Supply for the cattle panels for my idea to keep the bale in a ball. The last thing I need those little buggers to do is spread the bale throughout their whole pasture within the first day or two. We already have enough steel roofing material to cover the roof. It should be alot of fun with all the "help" I am going to get from the goats. When we built their play cottage, Oreo kept stealing the screws, then they chewed the strap off the tape measure and chewed on the impact driver. It is always an adventure trying to build with their help. Something that normally should take only a few minutes can take a half hour with their help. If you bend over to pick something up, you may end up wearing a goat on your back as well. Ask me how I know. LOL I will post pictures of my helpers and my progress. I might just have to turn them loose into the woods tomorrow to let them browse and keep them out of my hair. (Yes, they like chewing on hair too, silly goats.)
 
One of the guys I work with, John, brought a puppy to work on Friday that his wife was fostering. I fell in love instantly, but didn't want to get attached because my coworker has been wanting a second dog. Besides that, I thought for sure Bud would say no to another dog. I brought the subject up, but didn't push by asking if we could adopt him. Over the weekend, my coworker's husband said no to getting another dog. He brought the puppy to work again on Monday because our branch manager wanted to see it. The puppy was in the lab with us all afternoon, and again, I tried not to fall in love with him. He kept coming up and laying his head on my leg and I was trying hard not to give in to the temptation of giving him some loving. I took a picture of the puppy sleeping and texted it to Bud. Well, later on, someone asked how old he was. I looked in his mouth to see his teeth, then I picked him up. It was all over then, I was hooked. John insisted that he bring the puppy to my house that night so Bud could see him. I told him that Bud would probably say no. John said that he wanted the puppy to go to a good home, and he knew that we would take wonderful care of it. I had heated leftovers and everytime I would go into the living room to give something to Bud, he was looking at the puppy picture I texted him. John got here, and we all went outside. I had suggested the name that I thought of on the way home from work, and Bud said, "No, I like Tucker." I knew it was all over then, he was hooked.  The puppy and Maggie played together, we introduced him to the goats, and then we let them run around. He really seemed to have a blast making new friends with the other animals and running around. I filled out the application and submitted it today. Now the interminable wait is on. The suspense is already killing me. We are hoping for good news. Please cross your fingers for us. We all have ours crossed. I think Maggie has her paws crossed too.
 
It has been way too long since I updated our progress. I went to the Lancaster County Beekeepers Association meeting tonight. I learned some more about bees and met some very nice people. I can't wait until the October meeting because they are discussing Top Bar hives. That is the type we are going to be using, and I am excited to finally get to learn some information in person instead of reading everything on paper or on the internet.

The second generation Silk Tops have hatched and are growing up way too fast. They are fun to watch running around because they look like little cotton balls. Doc is a really good Daddy and was right in their with the Momma teaching the babies how to eat. He actually sits on them at night to keep them warm while Momma goes up on the perch.

We also had two Blue Light Brown Dutch Bantams hatch out babies on the same day last week. They are sooo tiny. Check out the for sale page if you want any babies. LOL

I have been noticing a hint of color on a few trees over the last week or so, fall is around the corner. I won't miss the hot weather, but I am also not looking forward to the frozen waterers when winter comes. I am looking forward to the cooler temperatures though so I can finish fencing in the back pasture. I would love to be able to rotate the goats to the back pasture on the weekends so they can munch on all the browse in the woods. They will be in heaven when I get that project finished. That is the last project that I have planned, I just hope the deer will still be able to get into the pasture at night once I replace the barbed wire with field fencing. We enjoy watching them eat and frolic under the light that is back there.