“We got here at the perfect time,” Ethan said when we arrived to do the chores. “We missed most of the rain.” It then proceeded to pour for hours. I’ve never seen the paths become ankle-deep creeks with tiny rapids before. It felt like we got four inches in an hour, but it was more…
Another Goodbye
We said goodbye to Stripey and Nougat this weekend. It was sad – Nougat was the first baby goat born on our farm, and Stripey was there from the beginning. We got Stripey right after we got Ellie, our first goat, because she was so lonely. Last year Nougat had a really bad case of…
Surviving
I’ve been feeling very quiet lately. And there hasn’t been much time to write. Ethan was out of town last week, we had all the chores to do ourselves for a couple of days. But home school planning is mostly complete, there’s one garden bed built for fall, and we all survived – except Mirin…
Calves Are Out
The calves are out on the line we call the “goat wedge.” I think we wanted to have the goats there on a more permanent basis a few years ago. I guess we should call it the “calf wedge” now. They are extremely happy to be off of hay at last. We were trying to…
Stuck
I have been writing less, mostly because I have discovered that sitting by a computer makes me feel awful. I feel bad for all the people who spend many hours a day in front of these machines. April has been getting her head stuck in the fence almost daily (twice one day). Her horns have…
Homeschool Planning, And An Honest Review of Christopherous Curriculum
This has been so occupying my waking thoughts and life (and also sometimes my dreams), almost all I have been able to think about since getting home was this fall’s homeschooling. Second grade, fifth grade, and now turning three, Clothilde will be old enough for something to keep her occupied. A challenge. I have…
In The Garden: Looking On The Bright Side
It’s so fun having a baby goat around! Yesterday after I milked Matilda I was sitting in the grass waiting for Ethan to finish milking Geranium. He browsed around and then sat right down beside me and chewed his cud as if I were another goat. Well, it’s Thursday again, and Night Hawk is cute,…
Night Hawk
A week ago we picked up our buck for this year – a 2-month old Nubian – from my friend Denise. We traded two piglets for him, which worked out great because she’s got tons of skimmed milk for pigs, and now the piglet load seems much more manageable (or feedable) at our place. …
Creative Pickles
I thought I had gotten a lot done at the farm this weekend, but really I mostly moped around and complained about how hot it was. It’s been REALLY hot – too hot to do very much of anything outside. It’s sunstroke weather. A little bit of pickling got accomplished, however. I realized I had…
Cowboys and Crazy Cows
Mirin riding on Geranium It’s been so hot and dry…and it’s only June. Tropical Storm Bill is sucking up all our rain somewhere in the gulf. Somehow the grass still managed to grow, and yesterday a storm went so close to us, the thunder seemed right overhead, and I, always lightening-shy since my 5th grade…
You Know Your Garden is Overgrown When….
you find a wild turkey nest tucked into the zuchini! I came across this egg the other day, and picked it up thinking Ethan had accidentally let one of Gorgeous’s eggs roll off. But then I noticed it was in a nest! (Gorgeous, by the way, was one of the turkeys we had raised…
Cows in Love
I didn’t know cows could fall in love….but Isla and Explorer apparently are. They are always mooning about each other, licking necks and goring each other playfully with their horns. Isla is the only cow Explorer will allow to share the water trough with him while he is drinking. It’s very romantic. I guess she’s…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 