Aliska - we shouldn't have much risk of overmedicating. Most of the medicinals are more gentle and safer than pharmaceutical type medicines. And the only ones that go into goatland are the ones I'll use myself. Most of the medicinals have distinct flavors and textures and are the kind of things goats taste and nibble, but don't chow down on - so that also keeps intake at very moderate levels. They tend to just eat them when they need them. We also only put the safest types of plants in goatland and dogland. Things that can be medicinal but are very strong meds (like foxglove)are only grown in the flower garden in the section closest to the road - a place where seed can't wash back up into the goatland hills. I won't self medicate myself with that and there's no way I'll let it free range on the land. I do want the pretty flowers in my garden though. :) On Buster's garden tours it was very interesting to see his reaction to plants that he had not encountered before. Most of them got a little nibble. He liked the malva and hollyhocks which are stomach soothing and anti-inflammatory. He also like marshmallow which is similar. He loved the mugwort which is used for rheumatism. He had no interest in the St Johnswort. He had a nibble on the valerian one day and liked it, but it wasn't particular favorite for garden munching. He nibbled on the hyssop a bit but didn't care for it. He was keen on the peppermint for a few days, but after that ignored it. We did go down the path with the foxglove one day. I had been watching his garden nibbling for several days and knew by then that even in the middle of winter he was being very selective in his munching. So we went down that path and I was ready to pull him away from the big, lush foxglove leaves if he went for them. He gave them one sniff, made a face and wanted nothing to do with them. Those garden tour days convinced me that as long as we have a food rich environment in goatland we don't really have to worry about them mis-medicating. Now if a plant is mild, gentle and a favorite they might prevent it from ever getting established, but that's a different problem. When Buster joined us in the house in December he was really on edge the first night. The next several nights he and I both had a cup of herbal tea (homegrown valerian and skullcap - valerian to promote sleep and skullcap for sleep and muscle pain relief) at bedtime. It really helped both of us sleep through the first few days of our new routine. Buster already had the understanding that humans sometimes provide medicines that make ill goats feel better, and after our first tea party it was clear that he knew that the drink was something soothing and relaxing. We've also used herbs for a goat that had either pink eye or a corneal scratch. Of course that happened after the vet's was closed for the day so we did a quick check of the herbal medicine book. It recommended chamomile tea as an eye rinse so we brewed some and bathed her eye. Goats hate getting wet so she wasn't sure about the wet washcloth on the first application. But within seconds she was gently leaning into it and obviously feeling relief. It cured the problem up quickly - as good as ever had with veterinary pharmaceutical eyedrops. We gave her several more eyewashes over the next two days and she would come to us for treatment when she saw the washcloth. That's the same goat that comes to the fence and asks us for mentholated cough drops when she has a stuffy nose. (She wasn't keen on the very first one, but once she figured out what it did for her nose she knew to come to us for medicine if she couldn't breath through her nose.) Bit by bit we are learning first hand what to expect from various medicinal herbs as we establish parent colonies. Getting a second opinion on the treatments from the goats has been very helpful. The most promising herbs gradually get planted beyond the herb garden - first into my flower garden/seed farm and then out into goatland & dogland. It was so cool to have garden time with Buster to see what he thought of the various types of plants. He was very particular about what he'd eat outright, what he'd nibble a bit and what he'd avoid - even down to which particular parts of the plants he'd eat. He obviously had some sort of plant knowledge that he could apply to the flower garden - quite amazing when you consider that because of the mild winter there were over 65 plant species with actively growing greenery at the time. There must have been 50 species where our garden walks were his first ever encounters with them, but he knew how to assess them and make judgments about them. His illnesses have been an awful lot of work for us but it really was cool having those garden walks with him. I guess I'll need to bring one of the others out for a stroll sometime and listen to what they have to tell me about the plants and herbs. I bet cough drop fan Sandy would like to see what's out in the front garden. :) Lynda

I'm doing one right now!! My first year trying, so I don't know what the finished product will look like. But everything I used WS wonderfully, actually the sunflowers and mornging glories did the best for me! I'm also doing the teepee, but I'm using Pole Beans, Direct Sown, they just sprouted. It's not too late if you get a move on it, to do it that way. I dont know about scarlet runner beans or gourds, but I assume the gourds can be direct sowed now too. Here's the link to the thread I started about it here. It has my plans at the times, but there's also a link to my myspace album that has the progression up to date. (http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=136875687&albumId=804645) BTW some parts of my plans have been removed. Oh in a side note, I lost a sunflower in our wind storms yesterday :( Here is a link that might be useful: WS a playhouse??

THanks for the info and the link jejvtr. Yes, it's new construction so it's still under the one-year warranty from our builder. Regarding our gutters, I have had them cleaned regularly although they're pretty clogged right now. (The guy is coming this week.) I did notice that because of the pitch of the roof, a lot of water is bypassing the gutters entirely. The water is running down the eaves (whatever that decorative board is called on our house) and is pooling in certain spots near our house. My hunch is that is what is causing that one line of water down the cinderblocks under our house. (The other line looks like it's from a leak in a pipe below the house. The leak is where the pipe meets the cinderblock. Looks like more of a plumbing problem, not one caused by rain.) When I pulled back the tarp (the vapor barrier), it is wet but I couldn't tell if it was puddling or just damp. We're outside Seattle and we've had lots of rain lately. My guess is that the water table is high in this area. It was wet even under the middle of our house which seems like a water table issue, but what do I know? There is no foundation there, but there are cement pilings. I didn't want to explore by digging in the gravel but I hope they did something to keep the water from seeping into the cement footings. Is that right?

There are suppliers on Amazon that sell CL2/CL3 cable, usually in 100 foot lengths (or longer). For most items you can order it and have it in two days. For example, this 250 foot cable is priced at $110 https://www.amazon.com/Speaker-GearIT-Meters-Outdoor-Installation/dp/B01N3JS3SD/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1490108385&sr=1-8&keywords=cl3+burial+speaker+wire . Bruce