This morning while checking emails, news, and weather reports. I was contemplating on using my chainsaw to cut firewood. My neighborly way of tactfully telling my knucklehead neighbors that they were to loud during the early morning. I decided not to.
I called Rhoda up instead and wished my beautiful wife a happy new year. After a brief chat, Rhoda then called Larraine. My girl got on the phone and yelled, "Happy New Year Daddy! I miss you and love you!" If I had known she was going to yell like that, I would have put the cell phone away from my ear. I love her enthusiasm. LOL...Did I tell you guys? My girl wants me to buy her a gun (toy gun) and a remote control car. What happened to my princess? More like Princess Tomboy...Rhoda just laughs...she's emulating you.
I was in the ranch watching over the goat herd while I was talking to Rhoda. She was able to hear the new goat kids while we were talking, first was Lily, then Hercules, Alinnah, Larraine's goat was to busy eating to sound off. Just then Scout started barking...he was stuck on some tall grass. So my wife heard 3 of many animals on the ranch. We were able to talk until I ran out of load(minutes for y'all westerners). We'll chat again when Rhoda and Larraine are back home in Cagayan De Oro City.
After our call, I started cleaning around the branches and trunks that I cut yesterday, and the day before. I placed them in a compost pile about 30 feet long. I might just make that a hedgerow. I still have more tangantangan trees to cut down. It's going to be my vegetable garden.
The other day I was offered a heifer for $800. That is a really great deal for a cow. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of cash laying around. Even if I have the place to allow the cow to forage. It just doesn't fit in with my plans at the moment. I had to refuse the offer.
There are some areas that I want to get into this year as far as the ranch is concerned. I really want to get into Apiculture. That's Beekeeping. My main purpose is for pollination since I'm starting up on my garden crops. Instead of chancing for the bees to find my garden. I'll have the bees here already. I do plan on harvesting honey, which I enjoy so much. My mom is finally getting the hang of using honey instead of sugar. I will also be making Mead. Mead is Honey Wine. I had the opportunity to try Mead in North Carolina. It was really good. Have you ever watch 13th Warrior? Where Antonio Banderas character, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, refuses to drink alcohol due to his Muslim faith. Finally, just before the final battle a viking warrior tells him, it's honey. So Ahmad drinks his first taste of Mead.
My mom tells me that my dad used to make coconut oil. I remember because I hated doing it, especially the cooking method. I knew he sold it at the flea market or to his regulars. I was just not interested at the time. Until, I saw a video on Virgin Coconut Oil Processing later this past year. That is a better method. All I have to do is grind the coconut meat, then press it, collect the milk, then let it sit. The oil will naturally separate from the water. Then all I have to do is just skim the oil out. I know it's a lot of hard work. That's one reason why I will use technology and machinery to do most of the work.
I'm also working on my "Year in Review Blog". I hope to have it done tomorrow. I didn't realize that I did so much...so I'm just using the highlights.
It was a great day today...hard work, good food, great wife and daughter, and lots of cool friends. Happy New Year!!!
Keep Smiling
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