Milking Stand

Made a little progress today. I rounded up enough scrap lumber to finish the Goat's Milking Stand. Well, I'm nearly finished, still have to attach the feeder on the front. All in all it's not bad and will work just fine. I made it 20 inches wide and 4o inches long, 18 inches high. Those numbers just seemed to be right for me. I kinda went by this picture and made a few adjustments along the way. In the first picture you can see the neck gate is open. The goat will put her head thru the gate to get to the feed and then you close the gate. This holds her head in place so she can't pull back thru and interrupt the milking process. In theory that is. If she tries to move her legs around and kick the bucket over I will attach a small strap to the base so I can restrain her legs.

The neck gate is closed in this picture.

I can also use this stand when I need to trim the goats hooves or examine them. This way I can feel better knowing they are secure during the whole thing. I'll move it to the barn tomorrow and let the girls kinda get used to it being there. I may add a little feed to the feeder too. That is if I get the feeder finished. Anyway they can get used to it. In a few days I will try to milk again. Maybe have better luck this time. Oh yea, I also have some roll roofing left over that I can use on the base. This will keep them from maybe slipping while on the stand and it's good and rough and will help wear their hooves down some to I guess.

I had a plan that I thought would help with my addictions today. I would just be without them. If ya ain't got ya can't smoke or drink 'em. Well that was a good plan. The only problem is that I have 3 vehicles sitting out there that will take me anywhere I want to go. Too bad I had a little cash too I guess. Well, you know where this storey is going. Next time I will get rid of this nasty money. The battle continues..........

I'm doing a little better

After a long day full of headaches and nervous jitters I am going to bed now. I wish I could have done better with my Declarations on quiting smoking and Diet Coke but I have made much progress in my ultimate success. Total count for January 1- smoked 4 cigarettes and drank 6 diet cokes. Not good by any ones standards but tomorrow I will continue the fight. I have added a side bar to let others keep track of my success and failures. I vow to continue to battle these addictions until they are defeated no matter what. I have given my word to you and to myself and I WILL keep my word. It's a matter of honor to me now. I'll keep you updated.

On a lighter note, the new goat kids are doing great. I kept them and their mother in the barn last night and I let them out today to enjoy a little sunshine. They ran and jumped and had a ball. We held them and made sure they knew that we were no threat to them and that we provide nothing but love and kindness. It was a good day here on the farm for all.

Reaffiramation of New Years Declarations

This is a re-post of my New Years Declarations. I know that many have been inspired by them and many have been kind enough to link to this post. I wanted to post them again for any that may not have read them before and to reaffirm my Declarations to myself and to the World.

I have decided that this year there will be no New years resolutions, there will be declarations instead. Resolutions are too easy to wiggle out of if you ask me. My list will be Declarations. I declare I will do these things, or die trying. My list is complicated and my goals are high but this is a time in my life that I need to demand more of myself, as we all should. Let's get serious about what changes need to be made and tackle them head on with a vengeance. Here is a list of my Declarations.

I DECLARE, I will stop smoking these cigarettes. Marlboro has shortened my life and emptied my pockets long enough.

I DECLARE, I will stop my addiction to diet coke, 20 a day is just a little out of hand.

I DECLARE, I will make better use of the things available to me, my garden and my livestock, my land and my water source.

I DECLARE, I will produce electricity in a usable amount, be it solar, wind or micro hydro power. I will begin my energy independence this coming year.

I DECLARE, I will learn new skills to help improve our way of life. Soap making, Cheese making and Blacksmithing are among them.

I DECLARE, I will be a better brother, son, father, husband and friend to those I love.

I DECLARE, I will continue to gather and store food and other perps necessary to protect my family.

I DECLARE, I will make better use of my finances. I have never seen a well that won't run dry.

I DECLARE, I will take better care of the things that have been given me. My cars, animals, tools, property and my life to name a few.

I DECLARE, I will take time to smell the roses. Time management will be a top priority.

I will be posting on the success of these Declarations in the near future and will be honest with you and myself as to the outcome. I encourage my readers to call me out on these Declarations. If I haven't mentioned them in some time, ask why! Don't let me forget that I made these DECLARATIONS right here for the whole world to see and hear and that I am obligated to fulfill them.
I am interested to know your plans for the New Year. Are you making resolutions or DECLARATIONS ??

I have been such a Fool !!

For those who follow this blog you may remember my New Years Declaration post. Well, I have been doing some thinking about it and thought I would run some numbers just to seen how much I have wasted and how much I will save by making these changes. I am focusing on Cigarettes and Pop in this post. To my way of thinking I will be more devoted to the task when I see how much money I can save since my health obviously hasn't mattered much to me. The numbers nearly made me hit the floor although I should have hit the roof after seeing my wasteful ways. And here I am trying to live a life with less consumerism. Check out the stupidity below.

20 cans of Diet Coke per day = 7300 cans per year = 608.33 Twelve packs per year @ $3.18 = $1934.49 per year or $161.20 per month or $40.30 per week.

1 1/2 pack of cigarettes per day = 547.5 packs per year = 54.75 cartons per year @ $27.56 per carton = $1508.91 per year or $125.74 per month or $31.43 per week.

Savings of quiting both

$3443.40 per year

$286.95 per month

$71.74 per week

$10.25 per day

Kinda knocks ya off your feet don't it !! I hang my head in shame looking at the amount of money that I have wasted that could have gone to improve the life of my family. Just think of the amount of food storage that represents........the upgrade to solar power that would make us independent of the energy company's (and a few years of this budget would do that).........the debts that could be satisfied and gone forever..........the money that could have been saved away for emergencies. Keep in mind also that this is a conservative dollar amount too. There are times (many of them too) that I run out of these that I have bought at a (bargain?) and had to run out and pay even more for these items of destruction at close by convenience stores. So the amount shown is actually more. Now add to that the fuel cost for these addiction runs and it's even more!

Well that all stops on January 1, 2009 !!! No longer will I be controlled by my addictions !! No longer will I be money in the bank to those that manufacture and sell these products !! No longer will I smoke and drink away the future well being of my family !! The Buck Stops Here !!

New Years Declarations !!

I have decided that this year there will be no New years resolutions, there will be declarations instead. Resolutions are too easy to wiggle out of if you ask me. My list will be Declarations. I declare I will do these things, or die trying. My list is complicated and my goals are high but this is a time in my life that I need to demand more of myself, as we all should. Let's get serious about what changes need to be made and tackle them head on with a vengeance. Here is a list of my Declarations.

1. I DECLARE, I will stop smoking these cigarettes. Marlboro has shortened my life and emptied my pockets long enough.
2. I DECLARE, I will stop my addiction to diet coke, 20 a day is just a little out of hand.
3. I DECLARE, I will make better use of the things available to me, my garden and my livestock, my land and my water source.
4. I DECLARE, I will produce electricity in a usable amount, be it solar, wind or micro hydro power. I will begin my energy independence this coming year.
5. I DECLARE, I will learn new skills to help improve our way of life. Soap making, Cheese making and Blacksmithing are among them.
6. I DECLARE, I will be a better brother, son, father, husband and friend to those I love.
7. I DECLARE, I will continue to gather and store food and other perps necessary to protect my family.
8. I DECLARE, I will make better use of my finances. I have never seen a well that won't run dry.
9. I DECLARE, I will take better care of the things that have been given me. My cars, animals, tools, property and my life to name a few.
10. I DECLARE, I will take time to smell the roses. Time management will be a top priority.

I will be posting on the success of these Declarations in the near future and will be honest with you and myself as to the outcome. I encourage my readers to call me out on these Declarations. If I haven't mentioned them in some time, ask why! Don't let me forget that I made these DECLARATIONS right here for the whole world to see and hear and that I am obligated to fulfill them.

I am interested to know your plans for the New Year. Are you making resolutions or DECLARATIONS ??