Getting Back on Track

I can think of several places in my life this applies. The last few years, I've gotten sidetracked in many respects. Some was good. Some..... not so much.

I have been very busy. Some was good. Some.... not so much.

My focus got muddled.

While I certainly believe in helping others where possible, it can swallow you up. I found myself spending so much time helping others that I had no time left for me. For my family. For my health. For my shop.

So. I'm reining in. Getting back on track. Selfish? In some ways perhaps. But that will just have to be ok. There are only so many hours in a day, and the older I get, the faster those days are going.

I look forward to working on this blog again. I've missed doing so.

I left off almost a year ago with news that the baby goats were about to start arriving. What an adventure that was! And extremely time consuming.

Spring was a blur of taking care of the mama's while they waited to go into labor.

And the babies as they came.

48 of them!

And as babies tend to do, they got into mischief every chance they got.

Every day was a blur of day job work, and evening time goat tending.

Or fence mending.

For a few months, those goats took over our lives.

Unfortunately, despite our constant efforts, we couldn't keep them in.

Not in the barn - they figured out how to knock down fences.

Not in the pasture fields. 

I never understood the term "walking down a fence" until I saw goats do it.

Repeatedly.

Long story, and a difficult decision, but we ended up selling the herd.

And using the money to build a new front porch.

Which was also very time consuming.

And whew! A lot of work! 

Speaking of work.... 

In addition to the added farm work, I also spent most of the summer baking for a farmer's market. 

Talk about time consuming!!!

It was a good experience in many ways, but not one I plan to repeat.

Maybe if I was younger.

When I was younger, I could eat that stuff and get away with it.

Now..... not so much.

I had lost weight doing the farm work. 

But gained it all back (and then some) eating leftovers.

Yeah. Not good.

So. 

I'm looking forward this year to helping our son & daughter-in-law with their farmwork. But not being as tied down to it as last year.

I'm looking forward to having more time to devote to our shop, creating, planning, decorating. Without the distraction (and calories) of the baked goods.

I've reined in some other areas of my life as well, and feel a great sense of relief in doing so. 

Here's to a New Year! 

Hopefully one full of lots of new blog posts.

I promise to try. 

Country Club versus Country Barn

On Easter, a friend of ours treated us to Easter brunch at the Country Club. We asked her to take a picture of us so I could send it to our son-in-law, who put himself through college on a golf scholarship (and academic as well... what a guy!). He practically grew up at the Country Club. George has been there a time or two for work luncheons. Me? It was my first time.

Uh oh, hidden behind the tree.

There we are! 

Lunch was delicious, and we had a great time.

But the reality is, we're not nearly as much the Country CLUB type,

as we are just COUNTRY type.

Fast forward to yesterday.

We have been helping with the neighbors goats for a few years. 

This year we bought them, they are our babies now.

Literally.

The first one had her babies yesterday morning.

Triplets!!!

Mama is skittish, and not impressed with my efforts to take pictures

I couldn't get her and the babies all together in one shot.

They don't take directions very well.

Nor do they say cheese.

But all 3 kids are hers.

And so far, she is feeding all 3.

Yay!

Altogether, there are around 20 goats ready to give birth.

Anyday now.

And believe me, they will be quite delighted to get it over with.

Some of them are looking quite miserable

as they waddle around!

Spring Babies on the Farm

Say hello to our newest addition - Striker!

This was taken just a few hours after he was born, isn't he a cutie?

As is usually the case, by the time we found the new baby,

Mama already had everything under control.

Willow may be a first time mother, but she knows exactly what to do,

and so does Striker. Their God-given instincts take over.

Why the name Striker?

We just kept saying how striking he looks with that dark black hair

and white spots on his head and either side.

So Striker he is.

The rest of the goats are doing well too, this is Jessica and her baby.

And Carmelle with her twins.

I have actually lost track of how many mamas and babies there are!

And that isn't counting all the dairy goats and their babies!

Don't worry, the one on the stump isn't hurt, she's just playing.

After a bit, all the goats wandered back outside, 

where one of the babies greeted the sheep.

It's really hard to say which is sweeter...

baby goats or baby lambs.

Maybe what is sweeter is our great nephews.

Yep, it's definitely our great nephews.

Looks like our son Kevin who owns all these animals 

will have plenty of help taking care of all of them!

January thus far

Time has flown by! What have we been up to lately? Well, at home, there's new baby goats....

  

How sweet is that?

Last years babies are very curious about this years babies.

Mama is not impressed.

 

This little one got away from Mama just long enough to extend 

a friendly foot greeting. But don't let this cute scene fool you!

Her foot pulled back very quickly when the bigger goat tried to 

butt her through the fence! There's a reason Mama is so protective!

The cows  have had to be moved a couple times, 

and this past Sunday, we had to separate them, and take 3 to market. 

That turned out to be quite a challenge!

We'll be making some changes before the next ones go.

Lessons learned.

The chickens are not impressed with snow.

They were very glad on this particular day to get out of the coop. 

They made their way to the goat barn, where they love to look

for any bits of grain the goats overlooked.

We had a break in the weather and spent a couple days splitting firewood. I overdid it, and that resulted in several days of an aching back. Several orders for the store came in during that time, so I spent a few days on the couch, unpacking boxes and pricing new inventory. Our living room was total chaos! But it's all in the store now, neatly on display, and I can walk through my living room again. Yay!

My absolute favorite thing to do in January is the end of the year paperwork in preparation for taxes. NOT! A necessary, time-consuming evil.

Another evil that popped up was this:

 

On of our front display windows at the store. We can't prove it, but we and the police feel sure it was a drunk who was mad about who knows what. The whole window was shattered. The cost to us? $1000 that I had set aside for new inventory. Sigh.

On a happier note, I've been doing some crafting, but last night I decided to take a break from that and do some organizing. I'll finish that up today - not a bad job right now. It's nice and toasty in my studio by the woodstove, and it's single digits and teens outside!

I hope you all have avoided the flu! So far, so good here. We all had flu shots, so we have our fingers and toes crossed that we're protected. 

Keep warm!

The New Family Member is a Goat

We heard a knock on our door last evening, and when we opened it, we found our VERY EXCITED daughter-in-law Katie, son Kevin, and......... a baby goat.

 

The baby goat had been born at our neighbor's goat farm just a few short hours earlier, and the mama was unable to feed him. Normally, on our neighbor's goat farm, the girl goats get names, but the boy goats don't, because they all get sold.

 

But that's not stopping Katie, who promptly named this particular boy goat Teddy.

 

 

George got down on the floor to play with the goat, and they ended up head-butting. Must be a guy thing.

 

Teddy had eaten just a little from his mama, but it didn't appear he would get any more, so once they showed him off, they took him home to feed. Or try to feed. When we went to their house a little later, they had Teddy in their kitchen, trying to bottle feed him, with no luck.



Teddy was crying but was refusing the bottle. George and I found the situation very amusing. We told the newlyweds this is nothing - just wait till that baby is their own human newborn! Anyone who has had the blessing of caring for a newborn knows the helplessness of a screaming baby!

 

George (who grew up raising sheep) jumped in to help. But Teddy still wanted nothing to do with that bottle. (though he did think our daughter Jessica's fingers looked promising)

 

 

Finally, both Kevin and Teddy fell asleep. And George told Katie that Teddy would eat when he got hungry enough. Which would more than likely be in the middle of the night.

 

Sure enough, at 12:24 AM, Kevin sent this text to his sister:

He woke us up crying, drank almost 8 oz milk and wanted more, peed twice soaking up 10 paper towels, pooped once, and now won't quit crying because he wants to play.

 

Hee hee. Welcome to "parenthood".

 

And this may be just the beginning. Kevin and Katie own a VERY PREGNANT goat name Faith who should be delivering any day now. And by the looks of her, she at least has twins.

 

Keep that milk bottle coming!

Farm Crafts and Real Farm

We're going down on the farm....craft style.

Mini pillows. 

Great for a shelf, or a bowl filler.

Love Spoken Here. Awww.

 

 Sheep!

 

Ducks!

 

Goats!

Hey! Wait a minute! That's our REAL goats!

You don't want them in your home decor.

 

  Farm house.

 (a Billy Jacobs print)

Farmhouse ornaments.

 

A goat named Jessica. 

As opposed to our daughter named Jessica.

Although, the goat named Jessica WAS named after our daughter Jessica.

If you are of the female persuasion, and you are in our neighbor's barn 

when a baby girl goat is born, she is named after you.

(doesn't work for boys - the boys aren't named)

Kevin & Katie just bought the goats in the picture above,

including Jessica, and another goat named for Katie.

But....the goat Katie is not well, and hasn't made the move yet.

We're pulling for her!

Country life = Goats!

They say March comes in like a lion, or a lamb.

 In our world, the New Year came in like a goat!

Our neighbor called to see if we wanted to come out and see the new babies.

That would be a resounding YES!

"Hey, can someone let me out of here?"

It's a hard life being a baby goat - must take a nap!

Most of the baby goats are around a week old in these photos.

"Um, can you excuse me while I feed the twins?"

Look at the little one peeking out around mama.

Jessica was thrilled to spend some time in the goat barn. She's a country girl at heart, but is living in the big city. And what is she doing in the big city? Yearning for the day when she can again be a country girl.

Or at the very least a girl with a yard.

And a garden.

And maybe a baby goat.



The goats are in what used to be a dairy cow barn, as you can see by the cow stanchions that are still in place.

Um, Kevin, don't stick your head in a cow stanchion. You never know who might show up with a camera!

I found it extremely funny that a "bull" was in the stanchion. He didn't find nearly as much humor in that as I did. Hee, hee - it still makes me laugh.

Sorry Kevin.

This may have been my favorite shot of the day...

George, Kevin and our neighbor talking outside the barn.

Who says we don't have high fashion in the country?

These boys are ready to work. Or talk.

Let me tell you, when these 3 get together, they can do some serious talking!