Regarding that To-Do list

Do you remember that To-Do list I mentioned on Saturday ?

The list might have been a bit difficult to read, given the helpful, furry goat faces in the way and all, so here's how it ultimately read:

• Trim goat hooves
• Rehang hay feeder
• Stain deck railing
• Wash & store potatoes
• Finish storing garlic
• Measure sunflower
• Carry jam down to pantry
• Put up chicken roof panels
• Take netting off blueberries
• Cut off stupid-ass apple branch

Would you like to know the status of those items?

1) Trim goat hooves - CHECK

Pete went to sleep through part of it:

Way, way asleep, that boy was:

Reggie was more challenging and refused to sit still for it. He apparently was not desiring a foot treatment on this day. This picture was one of his brief quiet moments before he would suddenly fling himself off Jim's lap:

2) Rehang hay feeder - CHECK

This was a do-over project. Last week we had raised the hay feeder up from "baby goat" level to "teenage goat" level and the goat boys promptly brought it down:

Now it's on nice and strong:

A face-down feeder is no good to any of us, and the boys are much happier now:

3) Stain deck railing - CHECK

And by "stain" I mean "waterproof":

And by "check" I mean, well, half way check. The entire railing has been cleaned and prepped but I only got half the railing sealed with waterproofing. Sigh. This took way longer than I thought it would. But half of it looks really great:

4) Wash and store potatoes - Not done.
Quite simply ran out of time. Tomorrow's another day.

5) Finish storing garlic - CHECK
Ack. Semi-check. I still have two varieties that need to be bagged and hung. My pantry has cement walls and I couldn't screw anything into the walls to hang my garlic bags from. So I found an old closet rod and used it:

6) Measure humongous sunflower - CHECK

We've been watching this mammoth sunflower for a while and it just keeps getting taller. Finally, we took a measuring tape out - we guessed 13 feet, but it came in at 10 feet 6 inches:

7) Carry jam down to pantry - CHECK

Thirtyone 8 ounces jars of raspberry jam. We had a lot of raspberries this year:

8) Put up chicken roof panels - CHECK

Even the best designed chicken runs need a bit of maintenance now and again:

My sweet man spent part of his Saturday fixing the roofing panels on my chicken run. We know that heavy rains are in the forecast, so time is of the essence:

9) Take netting off blueberries - CHECK

I love blueberries. I had a great harvest this year. I'm quite sad the season is over:

10) Cut off stupid-ass apple tree branch - CHECK

Yes, I said "stupid-ass". For months now, almost every time I walk by this branch, it nabs me in the shoulder:

But it's a tricky devil and it never gets me on the way *up* to the garden - when I'm thinking about it - only on the way *down* when my hands are full and I'm preoccupied with other thoughts:

Ok, so maybe my shoulder doesn't look that bad in this picture, but it HURT:

And, after months of repeatedly having the skin scraped off my shoulder, it was time.. OFF with that branch!:

The goats enjoyed it a great deal:


September has been an unbelievably busy month. This Saturday recap is just a tiny example. I feel like I'm racing against the clock trying to get everything done...done before the berries rot, done before the vegetables go bad, done before the rains hit, etc. While we've been extremely productive, there comes a point where all work and no play makes Danni a dull girl. I've about reached that point.