News

Since my last post, we've had lots of changes around here.  Goat paddock is nearly finished, and the hubby is now building a shed out there for them.  We have a new goat as well, a LaMancha/Alpine cross.  She produces a lot of milk (3/4 to 1 gallon of milk a day) but her milk tastes bitter or grassy - it also seems thin, like 2% milk.  I've been trying several different things in order to try to fix this problem - tomorrow I'll be tasting the milk again to see if any of it's made any difference. 

I came home from work around a month ago and found the house empty...called the hubby to see where he and the kids were.  They were building something of a greenhouse for me!  No floor and instead of glass, it's covered with garden netting - to keep out the pesky chickens.  We've got a decent garden going, with bell peppers, beans, tomatoes, water melons, cucumbers and onions.  All thanks to my thoughtful husband!  We've also got asparagus, strawberries, and rhubarb going in pots until we decide on their final spot.  In the next few weeks, I'm going to start a container herb garden on our back porch.  So exciting!

I am fairly certain at this point that Sweet Pea is not prego, but Sierra may be.  She's huge.  If she's pregnant, her due date is June 6th.  Guess we'll find out soon enough. 

And, I finally took a sewing class a few weeks ago.  It was a 'get to know your machine' class, which was perfect.  It was so much fun.  We didn't start any projects, so a project class will be next on my list.  Until then, I'm practicing by sewing strips of fabric together.  Tonight I'd like to try a pillow case - we'll see how it goes! 

Unmotivated

For those that work full time and homestead, I just haven't figured out how you pull it all together. I cannot seem to find the time and energy to do the things I so desperately want to do - though I guess if I wanted to do them bad enough, I'd make it happen. I feel torn in so many directions...I'm thankful for this job, but also a little down that things aren't going as planned. The job is very easy, except for the pace which is grueling. My boss is inconsistent, which can be frustrating. My co-workers are interesting and nice. I'll find out next week if they are going to put me in a permanent position. I've been filling in for someone who's been on medical leave, as a temp. We desperately need this job, especially because hubby's company lost their contract. We were lucky that he found work with a little company here in Wheatland, but he's making $8/hour less than he was. With my cut in pay, we're going to be hurting severely really soon. They told him they'll pay him what he's worth, so here's hoping for a raise really soon. The hope is that he'll make enough that I'll be able to get a job at the kids' school next year. I'm so tired of feeling like I'm not there for my husband and children.

Things have been pretty neglected around here. The goat's paddock fence stands half-finished, and the property desperately needs to be mowed. I finally got that last orange tree planted...right before another hard freeze. Poor things leaves are all curled and yellowed now. I got some of those pretty purple flowering vines transplanted to the front of the house...been meaning to do that since we first moved in. I have a rooster that's going to be meeting the inside of the oven soon, assuming I ever get my hands on him. He's terrorizing my hens whenever they aren't with Curly, our head rooster. Bertha especially has been looking ragged, with wounds on her head near her comb. Something needs to be done.

The goats are looking pretty scruffy to my eyes, but it could just be their winter coats. I was finally able to locate some Cargill Black Onyx minerals, which are being rotated with the Sweetlix goat minerals. They do not look prego, which worries me though Sweet Pea looks like she may be developing an udder. I recently had to break down and buy some chemical dewormer. Checking poop today to make sure it's working.

It has been an odd winter. Not much rain, but hard freezes nearly every night. I'm worried what this summer is going to be like if we don't get a lot of rain in the next few months. It's always hot and dry, but it may start browning up around here as early as next month. We need rain!!!

2011 = One big drama sandwich

Wow, what a year! Luckily everything seems to be working out but it has been quite a ride. My sister and her two children moved out in October...which is good because things were becoming quite tense on the home-front. She seems to be becoming fairly self-reliant, though I am often left wondering about her decision-making skills.

We had our first chicks hatched this year. For the most part, we let the hens raise their chicks themselves, and have 5 survivors - of which at least 3 are roosters. The youngest still remains to be seen.

Daisy and her doeling Rosie have moved on to one of my husband's co-workers and seem to be doing well. Sweet Pea and Sierra are fat and sassy.

Speaking of Sierra...she has had a crazy couple of days. When we got home Tuesday evening, we noticed that our gate was open and Sierra was gone. We searched and searched that night and the next day. Called and left messages with local businesses, had our friends and neighbors looking for her, reports in with the animal control offices, etc. No sign. I was so sure that she'd been picked up and possibly was in someone's freezer. Then this afternoon, a friend texted me that she found out who had her and I would be able to pick her up after the lady was off of work. I was worried that it wouldn't be her but lo and behold it was! What a relief!! The lady's son was already attached (yes, Sierra is a special kind of goat) so I promised them two babies in May.

I received my discharge papers from the Air Force about a month ago now. Getting ready for the transition has been worrisome, especially due to some circumstances developing with my husband's current job. Although I desperately want to stay home, I've had to find a job. I was blessed that one basically fell in my lap, and I start next Monday. Buying a wardrobe has been an eye-opening experience - clothes nice enough to go to work in are expensive! Not that I didn't know that but laying down the cash is stressful, geez.

I've become infinitely better at sewing, though that's not saying much lol. I have saved one whole pair of jeans, and sewn two badges onto the kids' AWANA vests. I'm still a little afraid of the sewing machine so I've done this by hand. For those that don't know, thimbles are an invaluable accessory for hand-sewing!

Finally, I've signed up to take some college classes. Should be fun to take 2-3 classes and work full-time. I'm wondering how I'm possibly going to have the time to milk my girls after they kid. Time to start saving for a milking machine and stanchion.

Everyone is in good health and, though it's been bumpy, everything has been working out. I thank the Lord every day.

New Goat!!

We picked up Sweet Pea this weekend yay! She's a registered first freshener that kidded with triplets back in March. She comes from a long line of milkers - her dam is a 9th generation milker (9*D) and one of the terms of purchase with her breeder is that we milk test her next year. We went to pick her up on Sunday, a 5 hour drive one way, and have been milking her twice a day - it's an amazing feeling knowing that our animal is putting the milk in the fridge! She's producing about a quart of milk a day right now, more in the evenings. For those afraid to try goat's milk, I can tell you that it tastes like normal cow's milk but is creamier due to the cream not separating. It smells pretty delicious too - like vanilla soft-serve ice cream according to my sister. I need to do some research in order to figure out what the normal production for a Nigerian Dwarf FF. I am ecstatic to finally have a real dairy goat! My husband has not tried the milk yet but I knew he'd be a hard sell. My daughter calls it 'creamy milk'.

Success with Sweet Pea makes me want to try Daisy again, especially knowing that our goats are here to be dairy animals. An animal that doesn't pull it's weight will be sold. I'll try a few more times before I make a final decision. For now the plan will probably be to keep the doeling and sell Daisy if she's unwilling to settle down. She's quite the acrobat.

Milking

In short, it was quite the rodeo. Last night, Daisy wouldn't let down her milk so I trimmed her hooves and put her up. The kids spent the night in a wire dog crate in the goat house so they couldn't nurse. At 7:30 am, I went to get Daisy, cleaned her udder, showed her the chow and got to work but she definitely wasn't making it easy, yeesh. I also realized she has tiny orifices so even though I had good rhythm and relatively good technique, it took absolutely forever. I did get enough milk in the jar to realize her milk doesn't taste very good - it tastes like grass. She has been showing signs of copper deficiency so I finally dosed her today. For those that are nervous about dosing (like me!), peanut butter is the way to go. Easy-peasy, with no angry goat involved - hopefully that will take care of the off-taste. Daisy's got a week to settle into her life as a dairy animal. If not, I may have to figure something else out.

Fallen behind again

But this time I have a really good excuse. I put in for leave the last week of April (kid's spring break), and was planning to get my new fruit trees mulched and veggies in the garden. To make a long story short, my plans went out the window that Monday and my younger sister and her two kids are staying here for a while. Most of my seedlings have died from neglect (e-gads, I had to buy veggie plants from a store again!), but all my trees are in the ground, including a couple new citrus trees and an avocado. And, Daisy kidded!

Crazy girl decided to have her kids while I was at home scarfing a sandwich before heading out to pick the human kiddos from school. I decided, what the heck, I'll check on Daisy while I'm here. She was in the goat house and laid down to push as I peeked in the door. I ran inside to change into farm clothes, and got back as the first kid was coming out. It was a large buckling, perfect birth but I could tell there was another kid in there. When she laid down to push the second time, it was easy to see this kid was completely breech, butt first. The cord broke before she was completely out and the bag was really tough to break - pretty scary. As all this was happening I was trying to call somebody, anybody to pick up my kids, but no such luck. When I was sure she was done, I ran to the school, dropped the kids off at the babysitter and came back home to clean up before going back to work - it was a hectic afternoon. So, we have one buck, one doe, both very healthy and Daisy is being a great mom. These pictures were taken the day they were born.

Buck:

Doe:

I plan to milk Daisy out for the first time this evening, separate the kids, and start milking in earnest tomorrow morning.

Today's haul

Six, count 'em, six rainbow trout hauled in by me and my boy while his Daddy kept bait on the line. It's only the second time Devon has ever been fishing and he did great, catching three of them himself.