We have shared how the entire area is low on pasture due to the lack of rain.  So we, as others in our area, have decided to purchase supplemental feed to get the animals through the winter,  We purchased both bales of dried pasture (mixed ryegrass, alfalfa, lotus, fescue, st.augustine, etc.) and grain rations.  Predications are that both will become scarce and expensive as winter does her thing.  But, I do have to say that my eyes grew large as this truck appeared in our driveway wanting to know where to unload.

The truck with the grain ration bags also pulled in behind the hay truck.

So after unloading many heavy bags of rations into the galpon, the guys helped unload hay bales weighing about 400 pounds each.

Next came organizing the bales in the yard.

42 bales lined up in two rows, hopefully will last us long enough.  After all we are a small farm.

We have a variety of colored eggs without resorting to dying them, even speckled ones!

Well, I lied,  we did add another animal to our farm.  We purchased a three year old mare for Oscar to ride.  It was sad and inefficient  to watch Alejandro ride his horse to round up and move sheep and cattle and Oscar walking along behind or running along beside. Easier for one to open and close gates but the rest of the work, not so much.  Now we have two horses for two riders and things should happen a little more efficiently.  Remember that Alejandro’s horse is named “Horse”, so Oscar’s horse is named “Mare” according to the guys, so we can differentiate between the two. I think we need a new name.

The new mare is the same breed as Alejandro’s horse, Criolla, which is the local breed. Same coloration as well. Except for size you could think you were seeing double. We let the two horses get to know one another for about a week, then Alejando loaned Oscar his tack and they took their first ride.  Both Oscar and Mare did fine.  Now we are looking to purchase used tack for Oscar, but despite having to ride bareback both boys have been out working the large animals with both horses.

Most days are long and exhausting  – both mentally and physically. We are building a business, which is demanding in and of itself; but it’s a business that we knew nothing about, in a different culture, and in a different language. When we finish before dark (not necessarily the norm in summer), and haven’t the energy to work on paperwork, email, or this blog, we really (REALLY) like to just sit and relax.  While Jason and Amy were here, we made time to do some of the more relaxing activities of summer: we played cards twice, had afternoon cookouts  with friends, and once or twice we just sat and visited.

As we keep trying to remind ourselves, we ARE self-employed. So we should be able to make time for the good things in life. Sometimes we even manage to do so.

With our new tractor, and with Ruben, who knows what he is doing, the garden pasture (i.e. all that stuff waiting to be turned into garden beds) is being trimmed!  This is what Mama has been trying to do little by little with a weed-whacker, two hours at a time.  Ruben did a months worth of work in a few hours.  While it might not look like much, it is a big deal. It not only looks spiffy it helps control weeds, is easier to traverse when wet, lets us control ants better, avoid snakes, and mulch trees. Did we mention it looks gorgeous?

Ruben is able to get in-between the small staked trees with the tractor so all that is left is to walk around and trim at the base.  Who knows, maybe one day we will have a manicured lawn.

We have added the last of our menagerie!  We now have 15 guinea hens.  They came with quail.  They are in cages in the chicken house imprinting to their new land location.  A few tweaks need to be made to the chicken house to permanently accommodate  our new feathered friends, but we now have the guinea hens to eat the ants in the olive grove and the bugs in the garden.

We have two kinds of quail, that arrived in pairs.  We are getting eggs from the quail.  Since we have yet to figure out what to do with the quail eggs, we are gifting them.  The response is always, “But quail eggs are expensive!” and we say that for now, they are a gift.

These are the cages the birds came with, eventually we will learn more and fix this situation.  Hopefully the guinea hens with help with the ant population when we get enough of the hens.

UTE = is our electrical company.  UTE is national.  UTE has bright orange trucks and the workmen wear orange overalls, or orange shirts or orange vests.  They cannot be mistaken for anyone else.

UTE showed up a last September at the farm to discuss installation of some medium tension power lines that would be going up in the region. One of the selling points the lawyer used to try to get us to sign the permission slip to let them install on the property was there would be less “black outs” in our electrical connection. Our reply was, “What electricity?” We were still waiting to have our electricity installed. So we asked if we could connect to those poles. Oh No! They were not that kind of line, they were medium tension power lines. Fine, we signed, and asked that they be considerate of our olive grove.  About six months later, the UTE rep and the lawyer returned and had us sign another paper. This one said they did an evaluation and their electrical poles installed in our olive grove would not hinder our production or cause us any financial burden. Fine, we signed. Now, we have had electricity for a year, (YEA! an anniversary), and the electrical company is just now installing the poles for the medium tension wires. AND . . . the guys doing the install decided there was no reason to come on our property. In fact, it was easier for them to not put any poles in our grove. HURRAY!

Notice how close they are to the fence line, the poles can only be 100 meters apart. The next pole is just  on the other side of the property.  If you look carefully in the background, you can see the string of concrete poles.  Next comes the wire, whenever that will be.

While out in the olive groves repairing stakes after the last of three big wind storms, the guys came across a Rhea sitting on a clutch of eggs.  She of course, scampered off in a huff.  The guys quickly grabbed a few of here 15 eggs and got back to work.  Here is one sitting beside a chicken egg.  We have been told that it is equivalent to 13 chicken eggs.  One of our guys likes it hard boiled and sliced over a salad, the other of our guys like it scrambled with some seasoning and veggies.  We have yet to decide how we will cook ours.