I'm not a techy person, however, the following technology really does interest me.

GREEN TECHNOLOGY
This field encompasses an ever evolving group of methods and materials, from techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products. Several examples of green technology include:
1. Energy - The development of alternative fuels and new means of generating energy.
2. Green Building - This includes the choice of building materials, to where a building is located.
3. Green Chemistry - The invention, design and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances.
4. Green Nanotechnology - Nanotechnology is the manipulation of materials at the scale of a nanometer, which is one billionth of a meter. Some scientists believe that mastery of this subject is forthcoming that will change the way that everything in the world is manufactured. Green Nanotechnology is the application of green chemistry and green engineering principles to this field.

Little by little...

This very busy week was spent getting to know Doris and Skippy better. I have never kept goats before and I was unprepared for how very affectionate they both are. They will stand at the gate and "Naaaaaa" for me to come out and pet them and sit with them and when I leave ten to twenty minutes later they "Naaaaaa" again, until they become distracted with something else, such as climbing around on the downed trees and rocks in their large enclosure or browsing. These two goats seem to ALWAYS be browsing and foraging or else chewing their cud. They have four stomachs and are milk producers, as are cows. But more on the health and beauty benefits of goat milk in an upcoming entry.

These past two weeks my husband made great progress on the little 7 1/2' x 8 1/2' goat barn. Him and my big strong son, Colin, rented a post hole digger to dig four holes for the barn, plus an additional hole for the door. Into those holes they placed four locust tree posts, approximately four inches in circumference, that they had cut from the woods surrounding our home. One 4 x 4 post was used for the door. Larry cut 2 1/2' x 3' holes for the two windows--one on the east wall of the barn, and one on the west. We are very fortunate to have a used building supply store not too far from us, so whatever we can glean from there we take full adventage of. They charge practically nothing and as an added benefit these perfectly good building materials are "recycled" and kept out of our community landfill. Truly a win/win situation for all. At this Saturday afternoon writing, Larry is finishing framing the two windows and the four corners.
Next weeks project will entail digging swails to divert the rainwater as we are on a mountain, and when it rains hard water runs like rivers off this mountain--we do NOT want a river running through the barn!

The beginning...

Flowers, candy, nice card--all lovely Mother's Day gifts, however, this year my oldest son and daughter decided to get me what I've always always wanted--a GOAT! And of course, you cannot own just one goat, so I bought another little wethered male. Doris is a registered three month old Oberhasli and Skippy is a little two month old Nubian. I absolutely LOVE them, they are so sweet--and I am learning so much. They each have their own distinct personality. Doris is very graceful and ladylike, Skippy, on the other hand, is a little rascal. The minute I enter their pen, he runs up to me and gently butts me until I sit down and scratch his ears and rub his back. That is Skippy jumping up and over the large rocks. The lower picture shows Doris in the background and Skippy in the foreground browsing on the scrub bushes in their pen. Our land is a good spot for goats--the pen encompasses a portion of old rock wall that was used over a hundred years ago to contain sheep. The browse is spicebush, brambles, raspberry, honeysuckle--Doris and Skippy are happy as two peas in a pod.
In the next chapter I'll ramble on about how we converted a 80 x 80 foot area on the mountain into a goat pen, complete with a little barn--which my husband calls a "shed"--although I think that sounds undignified.