Stoney Heights Farm

Shiloh and Karate

2011-07-07T07:59:00.000-05:00

Since Samuel, Shiphrah, Solomon, I, and now David are taking Karate, Shiloh wants to do it too. She has frequently imitated her siblings while they practice at home--her rendition of Sparring Form 1 is particularly adorable. She likes to stretch when I stretch. She likes to do crunches and push ups--though her pushups aren't quite right. :) Lately, when we all get dressed to go, Shiloh wants to dress up, too. It is possible now that we had to buy Samuel a larger uniform--everyone moved up a size, and Shiloh can wear Solomon's old uniform. She wants her hair in a pony tail like Shiphrah and I--she grabs her hair and tells me, "I tail me too!"

So yesterday we were at Karate and Shiloh was all dressed up and wearing one of her sibling's boxing gloves (pretty typical) and she said, "I go do it too." I told her she has to be potty trained in order to start taking lessons.

About 10 minutes later, Shiloh said, "Mommy! I go potty!" and started removing her belt and pulling up her shirt! I grabbed her belt, told her to keep her clothes on until we got in the restroom, and ushered her quickly to a stall. She sat on the potty, wiped, flushed, and washed her hands which is all well and good, except that she never went potty. :)

When David came in to sit with us, we told him about her cute antics and he said, "Remember, Kwan Jang Nim (really, he didn't say Qui Gon Jin this time) said you have to be 3 in order to start." To which Shiloh said, "I Three." :)

June Update

2011-06-14T19:25:00.000-05:00

Since I last wrote, all but 5 of the goats have left. The remaining adult does and possibly the kids will leave at the end of the month. The kids might stay, though.. not sure just yet.
David's brother John and his family have made the move from SC to TN and are living with us until they find a place. Melonie and Shelby are such great cooks and John is keeping our land so nicely mowed and Shelby and Jay (John Jr.) are keeping the kiddos so well entertained that if this arrangement lasts quite a while, we will certainly enjoy it! They've returned to SC for a short time while Shelby has her wisdom teeth removed. The gentelmen will return this weekend, and the ladies will be back the 4th of July.

Shortly after their arrival, I think we all flushed full toilets at the same time, which backed up our septic system! Apparently, the pipe from the house into the tank was in too far and close to the baffle, which backed us up into the house! We called a plumber, thinking it was a problem between the house and the tank. He arrived and said it was most likely what it was, so we called our friend who installed the tank. He brought out his backhoe and fixed it for free. We must do something nice in return! The plumber, however, did very little but still received a service call fee!

The following day, we had our septic tank pumped out. Apparently, it is supposed to be done every 3 to 5 years, and even more frequently with as many folks living here as we have. We've not had it done once in the 11.5 years we've been here, so I suppose we can't complain! Today, we were able to get a new lid... actually, a half inch thick piece of steel to cover the top opening since the lid to the tank cracked in 3 pieces.

Also today, on David's way to work, his car (which was my first car) blew a hole in the bottom of the engine. At 15 years old and who knows how many miles (the odometer quit a couple years back after rolling past 240,000 miles) I suppose it was time for a new one. We hadn't anticipated this just now, but since most folks don't keep a car for 15 years and we got plenty of good use out of it, we have to be glad for the service it gave. We got a small (tiny actually) trade in amount for it (better than nothing and no hassle) and replaced it with another Toyota Corolla--also in white. The new Corollas are like the Camrys were when I purchased the old Corolla. I'm sure David will enjoy his new set of wheels. He now has an automatic rather than manual transmission, power windows, door locks, exterior mirrors that can be adjusted from inside the car (with the windows shut!) and cruise control! We contemplated just having him drive the truck for the time being, but that transmission is about to need replacing and who knows what is wrong with the brake lights, there is no AC, the bed is filled with poop, and he needs something a bit more reliable. We contemplated buying a truck rather than a car, but the gas mileage on something that gets that much use is important. So, David finally gets to drive in comfort and the farm truck will get repaired as needed and continue to haul barn cleanings to the garden. :)

Speaking of the garden... I think I bit off more than I can chew! At least while caring for these goats still... I've mulched with barn cleanings--took all the time I could spare two days in a row just to mulch one row! (which incidentally, took one heaped up truck bed full of waste hay and goat poo) Then, I've raked rocks, but still have lots more to go... and weeding, and planting, and tilling, and fencing, and more planting and I'm sure more weeding, mulching, WILL I EVER GET IT DONE????

For the first time in...3 years now, we have planned a vacation! Next month, we will get to go to the beach again! My mom will get to go with us and John and Melonie and family will take care of the chickens and dogs here in our absence. We can't wait!

Solomon turned 5 this month, and tomorrow we will celebrate Shiphrah's 7th birthday. Solomon requested that he get his own birthday this month, rather than sharing with Shiphrah. So, we had a small celebration on the 10th for him, a larger celebration with family at the Apple's on the 11th for them both (and Uncle Jerry) and will have another small celebration for Shiphrah on her day. Solomon requested an ice cream cake and hot dogs for his day. My mom wanted to make the ice cream cake, and while it wasn't quite as pretty as a purchased one, it was attractive enough and mighty tasty! Shiphrah has requested pizza and root beer floats.

I suppose that's all for now. I've managed some organizational feats of greatness in preparing to have 10 people living under one 1800 square foot roof, but I'm sure nobody cares to hear about my nifty shelves, clothing boxes, or armoires. We are cozy and having fun in spite of persnickity septic systems and car troubles! Hmmm... I just remembered that our bathing suits have disappeared.... so much for my organizational greatness. Just in time for the beach, too. Guess I get to go shopping! Again!

Big Changes

2011-05-19T08:27:00.000-05:00

Recently, the headmaster of Stoney Heights Academy (that would be David) and the lead instructor (that would be me) had an end-of-the-year meeting to discuss the students' progress and the school atmosphere. It was decided that the lead instructor needed to scale back her other job as Manager of Stoney Heights Farm so as to give the students more time. This will be particularly necessary next school year, with a new second grader (who will have over twice as many school subjects as he did as a first grader). The first grader needs more one on one time. The preschooler is itching to be a kindergardener, and while he could wait another year, he could also give it a shot next year, too. The youngest member of our school would like to start her potty training lessons.

So, we've decided that for the next several years, Stoney Heights Farm needs to require less maintenance, particularly through the school year. We will likely push forward with gardening, since that's primarily a summer activity. We will keep the chickens, because they're easy. The goats will be sold. Yes, you heard me correctly.

We love our goats and the milk they give, but dairy is a labor intensive endeavor. The goats are beginning to pay for themselves, but in order for them to turn a profit, we'd have to be even larger and that's not something we have the time to do. I am spending at least 2 hours each day doing the morning chores and David spends another 2 hours on the evening chores. Then there's the hoof trimming, barn cleaning, shaving... all necessary things that take time. Time that we have too little of as it is.

One day, when the children are older and can offer more help, we will likely have goats again. It is a bug that has bitten us and I'm sure the infection is life-long. We may decide to do meat/brush goats when the other pasture is fenced, just because they're not as labor intensive, we've got a lot of grass to mow, and we love the meat.

I will miss the interaction with my herd share customers. I pray they are able to find a source of clean good milk. I pray we will find a source of clean good milk. I will do some experimenting with almond and coconut milk...

So, I've recently taken photos of all the goats, and will post a link here: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.10150181931713458.306947.145963163457

Some of them have several photos. I will list prices soon.

My Awesome Mama

2011-05-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

Why yes, this is 3 posts within a 24 hour period. I just have to share!

My mom is such a wonderful, giving person. My frustration with her is that she simply doesn't take good enough care of herself and she won't let anyone take care of her either. However, that doesn't stop her from spending scads of time taking care of everyone else and I have to tell you what she did for me yesterday.

First, she came over and started cooking. This is not out of the ordinary as she's always cooking for us. In fact, as much as I am all for natural food, my family would probably eat a lot of frozen junk for the sake of time, because I am strapped pretty thin as far as time goes--that is if it weren't for my mom. She loves with food.

But after that, she said, "Where is the fabric you used to reupholster your dining room chairs?" I only did 3 of them because they were a real pain in the rear and just didn't have the energy to do the other 3, knowing full well that my children would likely use them as napkins and ruin all my hard work anyhow. My mom decided that she was sick of looking at their chairs and that they could learn to use a napkin! She reupholstered my other 3 dining room chairs for me! All in time for house guests. What a wonderful gesture of love! My mom is simply amazing! :)

It is also fun to watch my mom with my children. Since I was an only child, she was really uncomfortable with my kiddos when I first started having them. She didn't remember how to change a diaper. She didn't know what to do when one of them got upset with another one of them. She didn't know how to make a bottle. They were so loud! It was all so stressful! She has really grown in her grandmotherly skills over the years, though, and it is a delight to watch her with them. They get excited when she comes over, which is just about every day and sometimes several times a day on weekends. She cuddles and reads and changes diapers (and does a good job now, too, though she must announce when she's done such a sacrificial act and I thank her, all the while amused. :) A few times now, she's taken a nap with Shiloh in the living room recliner. One of these days, I have to get a picture, as much as she'll hate it, because Shiloh will love it when she's older. :)

Not everyone is as blessed to have such a giving mom as I have. I am learning to appreciate her more day by day. Thank you, Lord, for the mom you gave me!

Potty Time!

2011-05-02T09:37:00.000-05:00

We've been doing a bit of spring cleaning around here and one of the things to clean out was the shed. The training potty that Solomon used got brought in the house and given a good scrub-down. The battery that makes it sing all sorts of fun potty songs still works.

Every child thus far has been a bear to potty train. Getting them to go on the potty involved spankings, candy, and lots of coercion! Yesterday, Shiloh discovered the potty and thinks it's great fun! She sat down, promptly did her business (both 1 and 2), got toilet paper and wiped, and then picked the #2 out of the potty to show the family what she had done!

She is in the bathroom now just having a big time sans diaper. They certainly are all different! I don't anticipate that she will be fully potty trained anytime soon. She will be 2 in May and we didn't start potty training the others until they were 3. You never can be sure, though!

Swimming Upstream

2011-05-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

I've missed blogging for nearly 2 months now. It's a busy season. I used to wonder why God made me so tired in the winter and gave me so much renewed energy in the spring--as He does for everyone. This spring, I find myself always behind, feeling as if I'm constantly swimming upstream, and I realize that He gave us the energy to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Spring means kidding here at Stoney Heights, which then means kids. Not only do we stay up watching does so we can assist in the birth of kids, but we then have kids to care for, which means feeding around the clock (as with any newborn) and parasite prevention, since animals don't wash their food. I got a bit behind on my parasite prevention with all the other things going on here, so switched from using Corid to DiMethox 40% on kids since it will kill all stages of the coccidia lifecycle. That should make up for my brief lapse in administering Corid (which must be used religiously in order for it to work since it only kills one stage of the coccidia life cycle.)

Spring also means gardening, which is another story... I started hundreds of seeds in the house this year and still have to get them in the ground. The rain and David's work schedule have not been cooperative. Just as we got some dry days to put up the garden fence and till the ground, the tractor broke. We are waiting for the repair folks to pick it up tomorrow. It won't start. Now, it's raining and the grass is getting long and the fencing still needs to go up and the seeds and plants need to get in the ground. I got the doe barn cleaned out and David got it tilled into the ground where the asparagus and tomatoes are to go. The buck barn needs to be cleaned yet. Another round of tilling would be good. There are many rocks in the ground to deal with. I wonder if we'll make it.

The kiddos all have runny noses and coughs and I wonder if they are going to have my allergies, or if it's another cold that will pass. Spirits are good, though.

We have several projects around here that we've started, some years ago, and have yet to finish. I want to start more projects but have told myself that I may not until the current projects are done. One of those is our bathroom. Yes, if you've followed this blog since the beginning, you may remember me taking a saw to the wall to repair a leaky shower... That is now fixed, but still lacks the primer and paint to make it pretty. The bathroom received a new floor last year, or maybe it was the year before. Anyhow, I recently scraped all the popcorn off the ceiling and then sanded it. There are a few spots where I gouged the drywall scraping the ceiling, so I need to repair those and then sand some areas that I didn't do so well. Now that all the dust has settled, I can see those spots. Then there will be priming, painting, putting up molding, putting up the large mirror that I got from freecycle, and shelving in the new linen closet David built in there. One day we would like to put in new cabinets and countertops, and a new shower. However, there are other projects that need to come first and we've made a goal: not to do a project that we can't pay cash for. Our carpets must go next!

There will be another major change in our lives that has already started to take place. David's mom will be moving to Tennessee, as will his brother John and his family. We are excited about the move and having more of the family close by. This change comes with no small amount of work. The next few days will see Margaret's move to her new apartment and we will continue to help in the house hunt for John, Melonie, Shelby, and John (Jr.). In the process of house hunting, we have also considered selling them our house and finding a new place for our family. I can attest to the fact that moving (even the thought of it) and finding a new place to call home is really time consuming and emotionally draining.

Poppy had another heat cycle exactly when we anticipated, and we put up a kennel to keep her from getting bred again so soon. Great Pyrenees dogs are wonderful escape artists, though. This serves them well when they need to get out of a fence to deal with a possible predator before it gets close to their charges, but it also serves to get dogs bred when you don't want them to be. We debated as to whether or not to spay her immediately or let her have another litter of puppies first. She had grown considerably in the time between having her first litter and when she got pregnant again and we decided it wouldn't hurt her to have another so soon, provided that it is her last. She had her puppies this week. She isn't as excited about puppies this time around. In fact, when I woke up the past two mornings, I found that she had left her puppies to come sleep by me instead. Which means that there are carpets to clean... Out of 11 puppies born, there are 4 living. This makes me really sad. I think some she just squashed by laying on them. She will be spayed as soon as the babies are weaned. I don't have the energy for this.

Last night, David and I went to see Carmina Burana performed by the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Symphony, Nashville Choir, and Nashville Children's choir. It was impressive to have so many performers, but I was overall really disappointed. The musicians and dancers did a fantastic job, but I wish I had done a bit more research on what it would be about before purchasing the tickets last fall. I never thought I would see such lude behavior on stage in a performance like that. More than once, I was embarrassed and just ill. I left feeling ever so thankful that we decided to not continue Shiphrah's ballet lessons. Surely the parent of those dancers never imagined that their children (even though they're adults now) would do such things on stage when they carted them off to lessons in their little pink ballet slippers and tutus.

So, I'm off to clean and prepare for house guests. There is a film of white ceiling dust that seems to have covered everything in the house. Laundry. Mopping. Cleaning carpets. Just keep swimming.

Kidding season underway!

2011-03-01T09:27:00.001-06:00

I want to share with you some of the kids we've had born here this year and tell you a bit about them! They're not in any particular order--just how Blogger uploaded them. The fist one pictured is Nancy, a Boer / Alpine cross doeling out of Dallas and Finbar. Dallas is one of the 3 Boer doe kids I got from Tanya Farris at Bulletcreek Ranch in exchange for one of my first Nubian bucks, Tripoli. Dallas is the most beautiful Boer doe I've laid my eyes on and has an udder that most dairy goat breeders would envy. I love the look of her, but she doesn't love the look of me. She's never liked me. Since I'm not set up to manage Boers like most folks manage Boers I think I will keep her baby and sell her to someone who can manage her more easily. We shall see. Nothing is set in stone just yet.

This buckling (above) and the one below are two of the triplets from Myrtle and Mozart. I repeated the breeding to Mozart because I loved last year's kids so much! I had hoped for does, but got 3 bucks instead. The two here (cou blanc and cou clair) are going to be missionaries! Yes, that's right! There is an orphanage in Mexico that the Jessie Brooks Foundation will be working with. Besides the Gospel, one of the greatest needs the children have there is nutritional. They can't afford milk. However, they have loads of lush vegetation for goats to eat, and missionaries will be taking a herd of dairy goats to be a part of the mission to the orphans. The orphanage manager will keep one of these bucklings as a herdsire for his private herd at his home. The other will be part of the orphanage herd. James 1:27 states that pure and undefiled religion is caring for the orphans and widows. I had no idea that I could minister to orphans with dairy goats! I'm very excited about this! If you have any desire to assist these missionaries, I can get you in contact with them. There are and will be many continuing needs for the establishment of their work in Naranjos De Afuera.

The next buckling (below) is the other of the triplets. I love his color--a pattern known as Sundgau, which is black with white socks and facial markings. He is still here and if I can convince David to let me keep him until breeding season, I will use him! This breeding is over 16% line bred upon some phenomenal animals both in terms of conformation and milk production. Myrtle, the dam, has the richest, creamiest milk I have ever had, and if I can work more of that kind of milk into my herd then all the better! However, if someone wants him, David would prefer that I sell him. I really do have plenty of bucks as it is!

The next photo is of Celeste. My first doeling out of Starling and Handel. She is just a few minutes old in this photo (you can tell her umbilical cord is still wet!). She is such a love! She will be staying here!

This photo is kinda morbid, fair warning. It is the buckling that was born to Starling and Handel--Celeste's brother. That is one of those huge Sam's size Huggies boxes, and he completely fills it up. He was born alive, but had inhaled birth fluids. I worked on him some, and then when Starling needed me, I handed him to my mom to finish working on him. Starling was quite scared being a first time mom and delivering such a large kid. She rolled on her back and screamed and needed help! She still had Celeste inside her, too. My mom offered to take the buck kid and work on him while I helped Starling, but wasn't up to doing what I had showed her to empty his lungs, unfortunately. By the time I got back to him, he was dead. When you have animals, learning to deal with death is just part of the bargain. He was a beautiful little guy, don't you think?!

These three kids are triplet doelings out of Savannah. Savannah is a sister to Dallas, the mother of Nancy, the doeling in the first photo of this post. The kids will be named after my mom and her sisters. Jane has the black head. June has the blonde head. JoAnne is the all black looking kid. She's actually a *really* dark bay/chamoisee like an Oberhasli but you can't tell unless you get right up on her that only her legs and face are solid black and the rest is a dark dark red. Savannah has never liked me a whole lot either, but she is doing better now.

I still have Adelaide, the first Alpine doe born here (a full sibling to the triplet bucklings above) due to kid next month. I just pulled blood on Isabella, the doe that aborted on Christmas day, to send in and find out if she got bred back. If so, she will kid this summer. Marie, my polled Boer/Alpine/Nubian cross doe might be bred, but she just might be fat. I tried pulling blood on her to send in for pregnancy testing and I can't seem to find the Boer veins. So, we may have a surprise in a month and we may not!

Egg Washer

2011-02-12T11:17:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know there are commercial egg washers that can be purchased, but they require the use of a bleach solution, don't teach character or attention to detail in the way that hand washing does, and they certainly aren't anywhere near as pretty! Our beautiful Shiphrah (in her pink and blue "outfit" --a favorite color combination of hers) takes her job very seriously. She washed 9 dozen eggs last night, without getting all wet, or needing to redo them after inspection, which is what we call progress! Great job, pretty girl! :)

Shiloh

2011-01-24T07:18:00.000-06:00

Our little Shiloh is 19 and a half months old now. She is such a hoot! Yesterday, I was reading a book to the kiddos, and she was having a fine time entertaining herself. She was sticking her hands in my glass of water, pulling them out and rubbing them together, running her fingers through her hair, then fluffing up the back of her hair! Where did she learn this? Perhaps she's imitating me putting anti-frizz creme in my hair. Anyhow, it was a hoot!

Then, last night, when it was bed time, she decided that I was no longer Mama. David was Mama! David has been a little miffed that Shiloh won't say Daddy, and now we know why she won't! (Though, she has said David!) We were all cuddled in bed last night, and David got up to ~~check on his online game~~ do something or other of importance on the computer when Shiloh started wailing, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" I, trying to soothe her, held her and asked, "What is it, Baby?" She said, "I wan Mama!" I said, "I'm Mama." She said, "NO! Mama!" What finally calmed her down was when we got up and came to see David. We're not sure what to make of this. I don't like my title being given away. David wants his own title. Shiloh is adamant.

She loves socks and shoes, doesn't like her diaper, and is quite the talker. Oh, and has the best dimples ever when she smiles. It's been a while since I had a post just for her, and I think it was due. :)

2011 Garden

2011-01-20T08:27:00.000-06:00

Every year, we say we want to have a garden, and every year, we decide we just don't have the time or ability. Well! 2011 is going to be different! It will have to be because I just spent a bundle on seed orders!

This year, Shiloh will be 2, and is already walking and running up a storm, so she can be outside with me, and not have to be carried. (Wearing a heavy child is a real deterrent to pulling weeds.) I think I've got the goat thing sufficiently down pat that I can try to add something new this year. (I pray they won't decide to throw any new curve balls at me anytime soon!) The older kiddos can help, and will have part of the garden to tend themselves--a homeschool project, if you will.

While my mom has gardened much of her life, this will be the first garden that David and I take the reins for. We have much work ahead and much to learn. Before the land can be tilled up and planted, we have some structural preparations--specifically, fencing out the garden area to keep dogs, chickens, the occasional goat, deer, rabbits, and raccoons out of the garden. We plan on building a pig barn on the North side of the fenced garden, so that pigs can till and fertilize it in the off season. That probably won't get built to start, though... I have to confess that while I like eating pork, I'm not so thrilled about the idea of raising pigs. I'd actually rather put the chickens to this task, and keep all their poop off my driveway (and everywhere else--such indiscriminate poopers, chickens are.) However, they don't bulldoze the ground the way that a pig will, so eventually I will be a pig farmer. I'm in no rush. If pigs would also lay eggs, this little mental dilemma I'm having would be so much easier. Too bad dinosaurs are extinct. There was probably a good bulldozing, egg laying dinosaur...

Anyhow, in addition to that, we plan on terracing the woefully un-landscaped area around our house--the part between the sidewalk and the house. Not just terracing, but also placing a low fence at the sidewalk so as to keep all the above mentioned critters out of the space. In that area, I hope to plant all the perennial herbs on our seed list. Lattice blocking off the underside of our deck will be a trellis for the Hardy Kiwi. Can you tell, there will be many photos to come?

So, much to be done! In addition to the structural work, I need to do a lot of research on how to grow these plants so I don't kill them all. I hope to make a notebook with a page for each plant, and notes on how well I adhered to the growing guidelines and how well the plant produced. I may as well share some of my research here, too!

So, here's the list of seeds we ordered and from where. I think Seed Saver's Exchange had all the varieties we ordered, but Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds had better prices on many of them.

From Seed Savers Exchange:

Empress bush bean
Blue Jade corn
Japanese Climbing cucumber
Crisp Mint lettuce
Rossa di Trento lettuce
Boule d'Or melon
Delice de Table melon
Petite Gris melon
Candlelight pepper
Chervena Chuska pepper
Purple de Milpa tomatillo
Amish Paste tomato
Black Krim tomato
Rosso Sicilian tomato
Orangeglo watermelon
Genovese Basil
Purple Dark Opal Basil
Thai Basil
Chives
Garlic Chives
cilantro
Hyssop
English Lavender
Lemon Balm
Lemon Mint
Greek Oregano
Sage
Sweet Marjoram
Thyme
Wormwood
Johnny Jump Ups

Backordered:

Amish Pie Squash
Spearmint
La Ratte potatoes

From Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:

Purple Top White Globe Turnips (cover crop)
Precoce D'Argenteuil Asparagus
Hardy Kiwi
Italian Pepperoncini
Melrose Pepper
Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop squash
Calabrese broccoli
Premium late flat Dutch cabbage
Parisienne carrot (good in rocky, heavy soils!)
ground cherry
Russian Red kale
Bleu of Solaise leek
Forellenschluss lettuce
Merveille des Quatre Saisons lettuce
Mascara lettuce
Charentais melon
Yellow of Parma onion
Tomatillo verde
Black Beauty zucchini
Thelma Sanders
Clemson Spineless okra

Silly Children

2011-01-11T07:39:00.000-06:00

I just had to share this one. I think it's hilarious!

My favorite Winter "Salad"

2010-12-03T07:50:00.000-06:00

Samuel asked me yesterday why I take pictures of food. :) Because recipes are so much better with photos, of course! This time of year, fresh veggies for a salad are hard to come by... well, those that taste the way they're supposed to are hard to come by, anyway! I just finished the last late-planted tomato my mom had been sheltering from the cold. It was great on my seasoned chevre topped flat bread. Anyhow, back to this recipe! This is a mostly in-season hot salad that I love!

1 leek
5 green onions
5 mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of asparagus (if you can get it. This doesn't have it because I can't get it anymore.)
pine nuts or sunflower seeds (about a handful)
feta cheese

First, chop the veggies and add them to the pan. I'm using a cast iron skillet coated with canola oil spray, but I've used a plain stainless steel pan with no oil and that works too. There's enough water in the veggies to keep them from sticking. Cook down, stirring frequently.

After the veggies have cooked down, add in your nuts/seeds and let it cook a minute or so more.

Place mixture on plate, and top with feta cheese. Very filling and flavorful! :)

Cholesterol Rant

2010-12-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

Let me first start out by saying that I don't believe all the Cholesterol Hoopla in America today. All the people that live to be over 100 years old have cholesterol levels over 300. Cholesterol is important to our survival. It forms the coating around every cell in our bodies, and makes up the myelin sheath around each of our nerves. It is essential to our digestion of fats (and absorption of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.) Our bodies use it to make hormones (estrogen, testosterone, and cortizone) and synthesize Vitamin D. You'd think we should be taking supplements of the stuff!

However, someone along the way discovered that the plaque build up in arteries in patients with hypertension or who have had a stroke has cholesterol in it. Duh. It's like the scab over an injury in the artery wall. So, rather than getting rid of whatever causes the injury in the arterial wall, they want to get rid of the stuff that makes the scab. Makes sense, right? It's like saying, "Don't put up the knives so you won't cut yourself, just get rid of the blood in your body and we'll solve that bleeding problem." Right. So patients who take statin drugs are experiencing all sorts of nerve and brain issues because their bodies are losing the myelin sheath that protects their nerves. That sounds like a good trade-off, right? (I don't use it much, but this is sarcasm).

This doesn't even get into the large particle size LDLs that act like HDLs in the body and how the widespread practice of not measuring lipoprotein particle sizes really skews the results, but I digress...

Okay, I know there are people who really do benefit from cholesterol medications, but I have to believe that the number is far lower than the number of people who actually take them. I think the Cholesterol Hoopla is one of the biggest scams in American Medicine. (I could name more, but that might launch me into a tirade or two I don't have time right now to tackle!) It is such a huge money maker for the Pharmaceutical Industry, that while there is plenty of evidence to support taking people off statins, it won't be done. Follow the money trail.

So, while I don't believe any of this, I was hoping that now that I've lost a bunch of weight (down to 126 this morning--just a pound more than the day I was married!) that my cholesterol would be under 200 (like 199) just to be able to fly under the radar.

And why would I think this is possible? Here's why: When I weighed 157 pounds (I never had it checked at a higher weight) my cholesterol was 265. When I followed a pretty close to vegan diet and got down to 137 pounds (still overweight by a pound on the height/weight charts), my cholesterol got down to 201--the lowest it has ever been. So now that I'm down even more (did I mention, 126 this morning? :) I expected my cholesterol to be down even more. Not so. It was 245. What?

Well, this proves to me that what you eat has a lot to do with it, and it's not all related to the number on the scale, which I thought previously. However, after I got the test of 201, I went and had massive amounts of cheesy, meat-filled lasagna and couldn't wait to eat "real food" again. I gained back all the weight I lost and then some. That's healthy, right? I was tired of feeling deprived and still being "overweight". I was tired of having to sleep 12 hours a day because I didn't have energy.

This time I approached losing weight from a different perspective. Instead of fear over my cholesterol levels and a desire to get it down, I decided that I wanted to eat healthy, and in a way that was sustainable for me. I'm tired of the yo-yo. Since age 16, I've been to the extremes of 98 pounds when at the peak of my anorexic career, to 199 pounds the day I gave birth to Shiloh. Of course, having 4 babies means there will be weight fluctuations, but I've battled weight ever since I knew it was something to battle. Always fluctuating between binging and either starving or exercising 4 or more hours a day (which is really a selfish way to spend your time, when you think about it). This time, I decided I wanted to look at it like a budget. Something I can be a good steward over and not a slave to.

My doctor said that if regular exercise is not part of the equation, then the number of calories I could have would be my target weight multiplied by 10. So, 120 pounds means 1200 calories. More if I exercise. That was something I could work with. You know, if you get paid $5000 a month, you budget to pay all your bills with less than that $5000. If you go over, you have to indebt yourself. So, if I only get 1200 calories a day, I have to make my food fall within that number, and if I go over, I will weigh more. Simple enough! (Which makes me think about lots of correlates regarding the American Obesity Epidemic and the American Debt Epidemic, if you want to call them that.)

1200 calories is not a lot, especially if you're accustomed to eating, oh, maybe 6000 in a day! But I didn't want to lose the weight, only to go back to my then-current habits and gain it all back, again. So, I made sure to choose foods that would fill me up long term. Our farm eggs, raw goat's milk, home made cheese, nuts, moderate amounts of meat, fruit, and lots of veggies. I am now 126 pounds (did I say that already?) and the scale is still moving down. I don't feel deprived. I have energy. I enjoy the food I eat and feel like I get plenty of it, even with my low calorie intake. When I get on the scale and the number is lower than before, I'm surprised because I expect it to stop moving--I expected it to stop 14 pounds ago. This is something I can keep doing.

So, what's better? Overweight, feeling deprived, no energy, and low cholesterol? Or at a good weight, feeling full, energetic, and higher cholesterol? I think the answer is clear. And if I want to live to be a centenarian, perhaps my cholesterol is still too low. So there. (Yes, I feel better now!)

I will show restraint for now, but I expect that I'll have another spout off about Mammography when they tell me I'm finally old enough to need it. Fair warning, just so you know.

Chevre (pronounced SHEV)

2010-11-28T22:52:00.000-06:00

A few bales of exceptionally good alfalfa, cooler weather, a herd share customer that dropped off a week early, and voila! I have milk to make even more cheese! This one will be about Chevre.

I started out with a gallon of milk for the chevre, and then because I got carried away folding laundry, I let it heat up too much and had to add another gallon. Two gallons is easier than one, anyhow. :) Heat (or cool as the case may be) your milk to 80*F. Sprinkle your culture (you can use 1/2 tsp mesophilic, or 1/2 tsp flora danica, or even buttermilk, but I'd have to look up how much and the rest of the house is asleep now...) on the warm milk and let is set for a minute or two. Then stir it in well. Let that set 30 minutes.

Next, you are going to add diluted rennet. By diluted, I mean one drop of rennet to 1/2 cup of cool water. Yes, I said a drop of rennet. This is a soft cheese!

Once you've added your rennet, stir it in, cover the pot, and let it set 8 to 12 hours. You're done for a while! (this is the easiest cheese!)

After it has set, you can tip your pan and see that it has coagulated and now looks yogurty.

Gently scoop, or not so gently dump (messier that way, but much more satisfying!) your curds into a muslin (or pillowcase) lined colander. I like to set the colander in a large pot on the floor, making sure the pillowcase is neatly tucked in the handles so as not to touch the floor. Tie up the edges of the pillowcase (my trusty hair bands again!) and let the cheese hang to drain 12 or so hours. It can even set as long as 24 hours and still be fine.

All that dumped out whey that was in the pot under the colander? You can make ricotta (oh my, one of these days, I'm going to have to photo journal ricotta aren't I?) but this is a busy season, so it goes to the critters! Again, I gave it to Poppy--I figure she can use all the nutrients she can get while nursing 6 babies. What a gal!

After the 12 hours, the drained chevre bag will be considerably smaller...

...and you will have lemonade colored whey in the drip pot.

When you open the bag, it will look much like the feta did--after all, they both did hang in a bag,

however, it will have a much creamier consistency. Take all the chevre (or as much as you can) out of the pillowcase and put it in a bowl. It is time to work the cheese into an even consistency. The cheese on the inside will be softer than the cheese on the outside.

I separated half of the cheese out to freeze for later, and decided to add spices to the other half.

Minced garlic, non-iodized salt, and dillweed ready to mix in my chevre above, and chevre packaged for freezing below. Chevre can accomodate a variety of treatments. It can be sweetened and used to make cheesecake, or spiced up and used as a spread or dip. It's just as versatile as cream cheese, but so much healthier!

Mixing the spices in...

and finally placed in a bowl. This makes a great spread for crackers, a mayonnaise substitute for sandwiches, filled in celery, you name it! Use whatever spices you like best!

Chevre is best eaten within a week if kept in the fridge. It can stay in the freezer about a year, and eat it within a week of thawing. When frozen, it tends to not be as soft when it thaws, but warming it to room temperature before using it, or mixing a little milk back in will remedy that issue. Enjoy!

Cheesemaking Again--Feta!

2010-11-28T21:05:00.001-06:00

Since I got quite a lot of feedback (mostly verbal--certainly not blog comments!) on my last cheese post about how to make Farmhouse Cheddar, I thought I'd do a couple more of these on other cheeses. People pay scads of money to take cheese making classes, and so long as you're after just cheese-making-know-how, and not party atmosphere, then a photo journal of the process is all you need. If you want to pay lots of money and take a class, by all means! I've taken one and it was a good class and I'd do it again--it made making cheese seem not so difficult and scary, and it was fun! But now that I've gained a little confidence, I'd rather spend money on supplies than classes. So, if you've got other ways to spend your time and money, but still want to see cheese making in action, here's your opportunity. This post will be about feta. I made the feta and chevre at the same time, so you will see a bit of that in these photos, but it shouldn't be confusing. :)

I started out with 2 gallons of feta. Warm the milk up to 86*F. Culture the milk with 1/4 tsp. mesophilic culture, 1/4 tsp. flora danica, and 1/4 tsp. lipase powder. Stir it in well and let it set for one hour.

After one hour, you will add 1/2 tsp. rennet diluted in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated (use distilled or reverse osmosis) water. Mix well, and then let rest 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, you should have what is called a clean break. You can cut the curd and it forms nice lines, not running back together.

Once you have cut the curd, let it rest 10 minutes.

Stir the curd for 20 minutes. Here's what it looks like when you start stirring:

And what it looks like by the end of the 20 minutes: You want to stir gently.

Next, you will pour off as much whey as possible without losing curd. Our dogs and chickens love whey!

Next, you will pour the curds and remaining whey into a lined (I used the same pillowcase as I discussed in my Cheddar post) colander.

Here are the curds after pouring:

Then, gather the edges of your pillowcase (or butter muslin if you've invested in that) and hang to drain.

I started the cheese in the morning and then let it hang all day. In the evening, I took it down and opened it up.

From here, you cut the cheese (no, not like that!) into slabs and then cubes.

Sprinkle salt on the cheese. I used to lay all my cheese out in one layer in several pans, making sure to salt all sides of each individual cube... phooey! Now I just pile it in the pan, sprinkle liberally with salt, and put the lid on the pan and shake it up! It can take it, I promise! Notice, I've used cheap canning salt. (Yes, that clearance sticker on the front of the container really does say $1.00!) Any non-iodized salt will do.

You may not be able to see it from the photo, but more whey will continue to drain out of the cheese for a few days. Keep the cheese at room temperature for 2 days, salting, flipping, and draining.

Draining the cheese:

After the 2 days, refrigerate the cheese in brine. You can make a brine with 1 TBS salt (non-iodized, again) to 1 cup of water, making however much is necessary to cover the cheese. The longer the cheese ages, the better it becomes in taste and texture. However, it doesn't get a chance to age very long around here!

Mom's Rolls--Aunt Sue's Recipe

2010-11-27T10:21:00.000-06:00

I keep getting requests for this recipe, so I'm sharing! My mom got this recipe from my Aunt Sue a couple years back, and they've quickly become a family favorite.

Buns:

In a quart bowl:

3 cups water boiling

1 cup brown sugar

1 and 1/2 cups rolled oats

mix the above and let set until lukewarm

In a large bowl add:1/3 cup of yeast or 3 pkgs. yeast and 1/2 cup water

let set for 5 to 10 minutes, then mix with a wire whisk

add brown sugar and oat mixture along with 3 eggs to yeast mixture

mix thoroughly. add 9 to 10-1/2 cups bread flour as follows,

start by adding two cups flour then mix,

2 cups then mix,

1 cup then mix, continue adding 1 cup and mixing

until you can see you dough is getting close to the

correct consistency or about seven cups total. Then

add 1/2 cup at a time. Knead as needed. Finish

by adding about 1/4 cup or less as needed.

Keep kneading. It is important not to add a

lot of flour at one time or it will not incorporate well.

grease (oil) bowl and dough where the dough will rise,

place dough in bowl, then cover with towel or saran wrap

and let rise for about 1/2 hour. Keep hands oiled, while

forming buns about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Place

next to each other on greased pan and let rise.

Oven should be at 350 degrees to bake for 22 to 30 min.

Keep checking for the desired consistency, because

it is too much work to under or over cook your buns.

Taking the Mystery out of Cheesemaking

2010-11-16T13:02:00.001-06:00

Friends who have never made cheese seem to think I'm doing something really unbelievable. It's not a big deal really, or it doesn't have to be. I thought I'd post some photos to walk through the Farmhouse Cheddar recipe I've been using so you can see that it's something anyone could do. While I do order some ingredients (culture & rennet from dairyconnection.com) most of what I use is just ordinary kitchen stuff...and some ordinary not kitchen stuff. :) Some people boil all their utensils prior to making cheese. This is a step I omit. My dishwasher does a fine job and I've never had a problem with my cheese from not sterilizing everything. I think if you follow basic cleanliness procedures all the time anyway, it shouldn't be necessary.

I'm a lazy cook, so I tend to make large amounts of food that can be eaten as leftovers, and cheese is no exception. If I'm going to go to the effort, I want to make lots of it. So, I start with 4 gallons of milk.

Here is my 4 gallons of milk, quite clearly in a 4 gallon pot! Heat the milk to 85 degrees (or 90 if using cow's milk) and add 1/4 tsp of a Mesophilic culture (ordered item). I hear that a cup of cultured buttermilk will also work, but I've not tried that yet. Stir it well and let it sit for 45 minutes. This is a good time to work on laundry. :)

This is a rennet tablet, dissolving in water (above) and below, after stirred up into the water (half a cup of cold, un-chlorinated stuff, by the way--use reverse osmosis water or buy distilled). If you prefer liquid rennet (which is what I will use from now on, now that my tablets are gone) use about 3/4 tsp dissolved in 1/4 cup of water (same water cautions apply.) Add it to the milk by strewing it all across it, rather than dumping in one spot. Then, stir it up well. If you use unhomogonized cow's milk, you will need to top stir to keep the cream from rising to the top. Regular ol' stirring will do if using goat's milk.

After adding the rennet and stirring well for about a minute, cover the container and let it set for another 45 minutes so the curd can form. This is a good time to grab a shower, or read the kiddos a book, or mop the floor, or whatever. Just plan on sticking around on cheese making days!

After the 45 minutes is up, you will cut the curd. I use one of those long cake frosting knife/spatula things. This is what it will look like when you've cut the curd. Yours might look neater than mine. Surprisingly, I'm not a Curd Neatness Nazi. You then bring the temperature of the curds and whey (Miss Muffett apparently wasn't patient enough to wait for the cheese) up to 100 degrees, stirring gently. Some people like to put their cheese pot in a sink of hot water for a hot water bath to insure the temperature doesn't rise too quickly. Are you kidding? This is 4 gallons of milk, and I don't want to have to lift it any more than I have to! Not only that, I have a nice pot with a thick bottom that heats evenly. The lowest setting on my stove will heat it slowly enough for me. I'm not terribly patient. This is a good time to have a glass of wine. Stir with the right hand, sip and check temperature with the left. Should take somewhere around 30 minutes. The curds will shrink and you'll get lots more whey out of them. When the temperature reaches 100 degrees, stop heating and let the curds settle for about 5 minutes. Then, pour off some whey.

Above is the pot of curds and some remaining whey. Below is a pot of poured off whey. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly patient, I use this to make ricotta. This time, I fed it to the dogs. Poppy just had puppies and is making lots of milk for them and I figured she could use the extra goodies in whey.

She shared it with her husband (Bear) and in-laws (Teddie and Samson). Such a hospitable lady. ;)

Next, the curds need to be separated from the remaining whey. This is just a cut up pillow case, washed and bleached as I do with all the whites, lining a regular kitchen colandar, sitting in my sink.

Dump the contents of the pot into the pillow case lined colander.

I then gather up the edges of the pillow case and tie them up with a regular ol' hair band. I like the thick ones, and reserve a few from the package just for kitchen use. The hair band can be hung on a cabinet pull and hung over the original cheese pot to catch the draining whey. Let it drain for an hour. About half way through, open up the bag, flip the curds over, and rehang for the remainder of the hour.

This is what a chunk of the curds will look like after draining for an hour. Break them up into walnut sized pieces, and mix in a tablespoon of non-iodized salt. Or not. I think I've forgotten the salt and it's still good. Non-iodized salt can be purchased as canning salt--very cheap at the end of the summer where ever canning supplies are sold. Or, you could pay a lot of money for special "cheese salt" but I don't think it's much different.

Here, the curd chunks are broken up and in my "press" lined with a tight meshed cheese cloth. My press is simply a steamer basket and pot made for steaming veggies on the stove, a child's plate that fits in well as a follower, and some dumb bells. One day, I may buy a fancy press, but for now this works fine.

Wrap the cheese cloth over the curds...

Put follower on top..

Press with 10 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

Turn the cheese over and apply 20 pounds of pressure for 12 hours (or somewhere thereabouts). I start the cheese in the evening and when I get to this stage, it's bed time. In the morning after David is off to work, I turn the cheese again and apply 20 pounds of pressure for another 12 hours. It just sits out on the counter top all day and is fine.

Here's the cheese the next evening, fresh out of the "press".

Unwrapping the cheese... The side that has the cheese cloth bunched up on it isn't nearly as pretty as the other side!

See! Now the cheese will need to air dry at room temperature on a wooden board for 3 to 5 days. It needs to be flipped every few hours. The purpose of this is so that the cheese will dry out and develop a nice rind.

When the cheese is dry, it can be waxed, and then placed in a cheese cave to age for 2 to 4 months. I have cheese wax, but I have no desire to fool with it yet, so instead, I've coated the cheese in olive oil, then rubbed that with a mix of salt (non-iodized) and minced garlic. Then, because I don't have a cheese cave, I put the cheese in a gallon zip lock bag and set it at the top back of my fridge to age.

This is a cheese I made a while back that will be ready at Thanksgiving. It was also made with 4 gallons of milk. You can tell that the cheese yield from the recent batch was a bit higher. Probably due to the increase in butterfat in the goat's milk this time of year. And that's about it!

If there is any mold on the surface of the cheese when it's ready to be eaten, you just cut it off. My first Farmhouse Cheddar, I didn't do any sort of coating, and it developed a good bit of mold on the outside, but the cheese was great! Those that I've coated this way have a significantly smaller amount of mold. One day, when I get a cheese press and can get a finished product that doesn't have such an uneven top to it, I will give waxing a shot. But for now, I'm looking forward to opening up Thanksgiving Cheese! :)

PUPPIES!!!

2010-11-10T05:50:00.000-06:00

According to when I saw the tie, Poppy was not due to whelp until Thursday. However, when she didn't come when called yesterday for morning chores (which are really noon chores), I knew she was off somewhere having these babies! I was completely expecting her to have them at our house and I couldn't leave the two-legged children to go seek her out. I called David. He assured me she was fine, and that when he got home (which was going to be late) we could take turns looking for her.

My mom came over before David got home and said, "If you're looking for Poppy, she's under my deck." I said, "Watch the kids, please?!" and was out the door! I found that she had made a hole for herself under the deck that my mom had totally enclosed for use as another chicken coop! Walls on 3 sides, exterior fence around that, bedded with straw, and a lower "roof" than any structure here. Of course she chose that spot! Smart girl!

What I found along with Poppy were 6 fat, nursing, vigorous little puppies, one runt that I'm not sure will make it (she shows no interest in it, and I don't believe it has nursed yet) and 3 dead puppies, one of which had not grown any hair. I called my dog mentor!

I was assured that it isn't uncommon for young dogs with their first litters to lose a larger amount of them, and to not go to any heroics (I was thinking of syringing goat colostrum and then milk into it) to save the runt. If Poppy isn't giving it much attention, something may not be right with it anyway, and 6 is enough for a young mother to care for. I feel better!

Since we didn't expect them to arrive until Thursday, we didn't have the stall for her in the barn quite ready. It's cleaned out, but I want to hang a water bucket and a heat lamp for the cold nights. I couldn't take care of Poppy if she stayed up at my mom's, so until the barn stall is ready (which was going to be today's job anyhow), she is in our utility room. I think I will help her finish cleaning up her back side (she was laying in birth fluids when I found her) and let her dry well before taking her to her stall.

Aren't the little rollie pollies adorable?! I'm curious to see what their hair coats will be like. The sire's is as fluffy and prone to getting matted and catching seeds of all sorts as any other Great Pyrenees. Poppy has a sleeker hair coat, which isn't as attractive in my opinion, but certainly suits our hot summers and thick underbrush! She's also smart as a whip and does a great job taking care of her goats and chickens. I haven't checked yet to see how many male or female. Good job, Poppy! :)

Other Previously Mentioned Items

2010-11-09T12:15:00.000-06:00

I have mentioned several things on this blog that I would have loved to provided a photo for, however there was no camera... until recently! So, here are some photo illustrations! This is the rock that we had brought in to raise the barn floor and provide for better drainage. The bucks have between 2 and 12 inches of the stuff, leveling out their floor and keeping them dry without having to use tons of bedding, even in the wettest weather. What a blessing! Please excuse the bad photo of the bucks. Rut is never pretty!

This would be the corridor from the feed/milk room to the chicken coop. It's a 4x8 section of what used to be the buck pen. They don't miss the space, and it's quite useful for all those feed bins!

Here's a photo of our new bridge taken at night. I have yet to get a good daytime photo. Anyhow, you can see that it has wingwalls and side rails and everything!

Soap, soap, and more soap! The white on the front of some of the soaps (where it was thick) has been scraped off and the soap has been packaged. I look forward to giving it for Christmas this year! I've been using a bar in the shower and love it! Dry skin is healing, thanks to the glycerin that is retained in naturally made soaps, even with low conditioning properties. Blemish prone areas are clearing up, because the soap actually cleans, unlike some of the products marketed for blemish prone skin... I don't ever plan on buying soap again, unless it's from a small crafter.

This is the Poly-hub feeder in the chicken coop, and the roost space. The feeder holds 300 pounds of grain and has eliminated lots of daily work filling feeders!

Our new nest boxes, next to our old nest boxes, now hung in the new chicken coop!

The barn with the chicken coop addition! Didn't David do a beautiful job?!!!

New Camera!

2010-11-09T11:50:00.000-06:00

David bought me a new camera for my birthday, and I'm finally getting around to posting some of the photos I've taken here! This one is of Samuel & Shiphrah after church on Sunday. I think they're incredibly cute. Samuel doesn't like taking pictures with Shiphrah, but she loves to have them taken with him!

My adorable Solomon, who can't keep his undershirt tucked in. :)

Shiloh, who was previously crying, is happy now that she has a piece of candy:

Shiphrah & Solomon after church last Sunday. Solomon has been winking since he was just a couple months old. This is going to get him in trouble some day!

Samuel, unposed smile. I think it's a keeper. :)

Shiloh, with a very posed smile. Ain't she a doll? :)

I can't seem to get a picture of David before he strips down to his undershirt, but I promise, he does wear real clothes most of the time! Here, I was pestering him and finally got him to laugh at me. So you can see where our kiddos get their irresistible cuteness! :)

I love this of Shiphrah!

I've mentioned my weight loss journey in previous posts. Here's an "after" photo of me. Down 40 pounds since the beginning of the summer... or 70 pounds since I was 9 months pregnant with Shiloh! Samuel enjoyed getting to use my camera. :)

Shiloh moves so fast, she's usually not spontaneously smiling anymore before the picture takes. :)

Making Soap

2010-10-19T08:40:00.000-05:00

The past week, my mom and I got bit by the soap-making bug! We made a batch together of the "Walmart Recipe" (goat milk, a pound of lye, lard, coconut oil, safflower oil) and added about an ounce of fragrance, which was maybe a quarter of the amount we should have used! It made about 27 bars, and half the expense was the fragrance! Following that, my mom made a double batch of a castille soap (olive oil base) using half goat's milk and half water. Using goat's milk certainly does add a lot of time and trouble to the process!

Normally, when you make soap, you add lye to water, then add that mixture to your fats/oils, and mix it up until it looks like pudding and then pour it into your mold. With goat milk, if you pour the lye too fast, it will cook the milk and make it an ugly brown color. So, when we made a quadruple batch on Saturday, it took a couple hours just to add the lye! We started with freezing the milk we had measured out in gallon pickle jars. Then, we filled our big cooler with two big bags of ice, and placed the pickle jars of milk in there. As we added the lye, we were constantly checking the temperature, stirring, waiting, moving more ice in... we didn't let the temperature get above 100 degrees. When my mom made her soap with half water and half goat milk, she first added the lye to the water, let it cool, then added the milk. It made a lighter colored soap and took a lot less time. I think that may be the way to do it in the future!

After that, we added the lye/milk mixture to our oils, and I had been playing with the lye calculator on soapcalc.net to see if I could come up with a soap I liked better. I changed the safflower oil for a blend of castor oil (for the lather it will create), grapeseed oil, and walnut oil. We didn't add fragrance this time--I was in too much a hurry to wait to order something! After stirring that for hours without getting a trace (trace is when it looks like pudding and if you drop some off the stirring spoon onto the top of the mixture, it will stay on top rather than sinking down in), David came to the rescue with his paint mixer bit and electric drill! In smaller batches, people use immersion blenders or "stick blenders" as I've heard them called.

We lined our bathroom drawers with freezer paper and poured the soap into them. That was Saturday evening. Sunday, when we came home from church, the soap was ready to take out of the drawers and cut. I used a large drywall mudding knife to cut the soap into bars, and a vegetable peeler to bevel the edges. About half way through my cutting, some folks came over with does in heat to be bred to our bucks, so David finished up the cutting for me. It isn't easy to get a uniform bar that way, so I think that if we do this again in the future, we'll be building a different mold! The bars are all quite clearly handmade. I have lots of shavings from beveling the edges, and I may play with hand milling that into new bars of soap... if I like it, I might shred up more of the soap to hand mill, but I'm not sure yet.

So, we have over a hundred bars of soap sitting on my roll top desk, just curing away! They will be Christmas presents. We gave away goat milk soap last year that I had purchased, and I hope this year's soap will not be too much of a disappointment in comparison! Does all the time and effort I put into it make up for it not being as pretty or smelling as nice? Next year, I will plan ahead better and order different oils to soap with, and fragrances and maybe colors to add. Definitely a learning experience!

Ricotta Pancakes

2010-09-29T07:16:00.000-05:00

I'm all about easy when it comes to cooking. So, after pouring through dozens of recipes online, this one really appealed to me. It is a modification of the Cottage Cheese Pancakes recipe in Whole Foods For The Whole Family (LLL).

1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour (can also use rolled oats)
1 C Cottage Cheese (I used home made ricotta, you can also use tofu)
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. wheat germ (optional)--adds another 25 calories to the whole recipe, that's 1 calorie per pancake. :)

Combine all ingredients except milk in blender, and process until smooth. Add milk and process to make batter. Cook on lightly greased skillet or griddle on medium-high heat until brown on each side. Serve hot with fresh fruit, jam, hot applesauce or butter and cinnamon-sugar.

Yield: 25 3-inch pancakes, each having 31 calories, 2g protein, 2g carbohydrates, 1g fat.

David and I really liked them, but Shiphrah just informed me that she can't eat hers (probably because it's different). The boys are still asleep. We'll see how big a hit they are when they get up, but if they decide they'd rather eat cereal, then all the more yummy Ricotta Pancakes for me!

For Friends & Family

2010-09-28T09:55:00.001-05:00

Since my introduction to Facebook, I have sorely neglected this blog. However, there are friends and family members not on FB that do like to read here now and then to keep up with us, so this post is for them. My apologies if you've read all this elsewhere already!

Samuel is now working on Minuet 3 in Suzuki book 1. Just 2 more songs until he's ready to start reviewing and polishing pieces for a Book One Recital! A new herd-share customer who has grown children that are involved with music (one who plays the cello, and another who is currently playing violin and bagpipes for Barrage) was here yesterday and watched Samuel's practice. She was really complimentary of his playing and particularly liked his bow arm. (She was also impressed with Shiphrah's piano, and asked if we had really musically inclined family members in our background--Moo Mau!) Samuel does seem to be making really good progress, probably because we are finally in a better practicing routine! He is finally getting his fingers stretched far enough on this new, larger violin. If we could just get his left wrist right... but he's getting there! :) It is getting to be enjoyable to listen to him play. :)

Solomon is still learning the parts of the violin and most of the time now will call the fingerboard by its proper name rather than the "blackboard". :) He's quite the comedian, as I've mentioned umpteen bazillion times before, I'm certain. He knows when he's funny and will give a cute little smile or a wink! Such a little stinker! Back to the violin... He is learning how to hold the bow, the violin, and to play the Mississippi Hot Dog pattern. We need to start on Ice Cream Cone, but most of the time, I'm so ready to quit before then. The Twinkles really are more difficult for the parent! I'm trying to stop before I let my frustration get the better of me and make Solomon exasperated as a result! Sometimes, slower is better!

The boys are really enjoying their martial arts lessons. They recently got tapes on their belts which means they are now allowed to practice their kicking at home. Exactly how I'm supposed to wash the belt, I'm not certain. David says it doesn't need to be washed. :) They look so cute in their little uniforms! We had to take the original uniforms the got back and get larger ones, because they don't make them in husky sizes! I hemmed the pants of the new uniforms because they were then too long.

Shiphrah is working on Chant Arabe in piano, still in the one-handed version. Once we get through all the songs, she will go back through and add the second hand. She really enjoys it, and has a dedication and diligence that is new and exciting! She's also started picking out the Agnus Dei that we sing in church on the piano--says it's one of her favorites. :) Her drawing lately is becoming really detailed as well. David and I are constantly looking at her drawings and saying, "Did you see this? Look how she did this! This is really good!" This is a fun stage. I'm sure that when they're reading more that will be even more fun, but I'm enjoying where we are! Shiphrah is thoroughly enjoying ballet. We recently bought some gel and hairnets so her hair could be more perfect for class. More perfect. :) Shiloh and I enjoy our hour in the waiting room. :)

Shiloh is just cute as ever. :) She's very vocal, even though the only intelligible words she says are Mama, Dad, and No. :) She likes to pretend that everything she says makes sense! She give great hugs, likes petting goats, carrying purses, and drawing with crayons on paper like the "big kids". :) She loves shoes and hats as well. This week, she has slept through the night with out wanting bottles, which has been really nice! She likes playing with her siblings and it's really fun to watch them altogether. :) Her eyes seem to be staying mostly blue. Her hair is thickening up and getting curly (was there any doubt?!) She likes getting her fingernails and toenails trimmed--baby mani/pedi! :) She sometimes likes to give kisses (really puckery kinds on the lips!) and sometimes gives you her forehead to kiss when she doesn't want to pucker up! She is getting some molars right now, but seems to be handling it well.

David's Fall Break is next week. I need to call and have fines delivered so we can spend next week shoveling them into the barn! Fun fun fun! I'm not certain we'll be capable of moving after shoveling 20 tons of rock and sand... that's a lot of work! We bred 3 goats last week, and if they took, there will be kids in February! I hope to be able to breed 3 more the end of this week. The last 2 will wait a couple months, as they're young and small yet.

Lately, my mom and I have been making our feed runs together on Saturday mornings. Two weeks ago, we went to the mill together. One week ago, we did grocery shopping together. This past weekend, we went to the mill together in the morning, and to pick up hay in the evening. The kiddos all stay home with David, and I'm enjoying the time with my mom. We're not solving the world's problems or anything, but togetherness is good. :)

Milk amounts from the goats vary this time of year. When the does go into heat, they drop in production. This causes us to save the milk for share holders and Shiloh only. Then, when production goes back up, we are out of the habit of drinking it and it accumulates. Last night, I took 4 gallons of milk and made cheddar. At 6 pm tonight, I can take it out of my press and let it air dry on a wood cutting board, flipping it frequently for about 4 or 5 days. Then, I'll put a rind on it and put it in the fridge to age until Christmas. I have wax to make that sort of rind, but so far, I've not tried that. The first time I made cheddar, I let it get moldy and then just cut off the mold. The last time, I oiled it with pomace oil (a type of olive, I think) and then coated it in garlic and salt. That round will be ready to eat about Thanksgiving, and I look forward to seeing how that works. Maybe I will wax this one. Anyhow, I made Ricotta out of the Cheddar's whey last night, and after giving some of the leftover whey from that to the dogs, I still have 2 gallons of it left. That will most likely go to bread and to feed chickens.

Other than shoveling fines into the barn over Fall break, David hopes to bushhog the land one last time, and then put the auger back on the tractor. We want to fence out an area for the garden and build a pig shed on the North side of the garden area. The garden will be divided in two so that we can give pigs access to one half (to till and fertilize) at a time. Eventually, we'd like to fence out another pasture for them on the north side of that, but will do it little by little as we can afford. Having a truck to transport materials makes it ever so much easier to do that! We don't feel obliged to order lots of building materials at once to make the most of our delivery charges!

Speaking of the truck, we had the windshield replaced and the power steering fixed. Next, we'll address the door hinges and latch and the brakes. Air conditioning and body damage are last on our list, and not sure we'll ever deem worth fixing.

I think that about covers it.... OH! You've probably noticed, but see that fancy logo at the top of this blog? We had a graphic artist friend design us a logo and this is what we came up with! We're very excited about it and look forward to making a farm sign, business cards, and the like. :) I've revamped our farm website and this blog (obviously) as a result also. Messing with that stuff is fun and addicting. :)

Well, a little one needs a diaper change and some big ones want pictures of their favorite superheroes printed to color... and laundry, school, and barn chores await! Time to get on with my day! Hope y'all have a great one! :)

1000 Words

2010-09-16T10:22:00.000-05:00

This post may not have that many words, but I have been advised to use at least that many to make up for the lack of photos. My camera died a while back, so until a new one is purchased (hint to David that this would be a great birthday present next month!) there will be no more photos.

So, the first thing to tell about would be that our new chicken coop is complete! It is beautiful! David built it off the north side of our barn. It is 16 x 12ish, has a new set of nest boxes (that makes 20 nests total), a spiffy set up for roosting, a 5x5 brooder pen awaiting a gate, and a 300lb poly hub feeder so that we no longer have to fill chicken feeders. Instead of storing feed in trash bins and then refilling feeders daily, this holds just as much as our storage did, eliminating lots of work! My mom has given us over 30 of her hens, so now we have 80+ chickens, 3 of which are roosters. David made some beautiful gates for the coop as well. Now, the only dilemma is that the dogs are able to go in and steal eggs, a treat they enjoy immensely. So, we will have to develop little chicken doors and keep the main door closed. Which means, I suppose, that it is not really complete yet. My refrain these last few years has been that there is always something to do on a farm. One of these days, I'll quit stating the obvious!

Shiphrah began taking ballet lessons a few weeks ago now. Her instructor is Mr. Espinoza. Ballet class is the highlight of her week. :) She loves putting on her pink tights, blue leotard, and getting her hair spiffied up in a bun. Hair spray is her favorite! We all load in the van and drop the boys off with Daddy and then head to Nashville. Shiloh and I hang out in the waiting room with a bunch of other mothers while the girls are taken back to the studio. At Shiphrah's age, they still get to play with ribbons and wear crowns, which she finds to be delightful. They also skip rope which I never imagined would be a part of ballet class, but I think it's good for them--coordination and cardiovascular training and all that. I think they've learned how to run (like a dancer, not a runner) and how to tendue, but I'm not sure what else. Parents are only allowed to observe during observation week at the end of the semester and Shiphrah, as much as she likes to talk, doesn't do the best job of explaining the details of ballet class to me.

Yesterday, David took the boys to a mixed martial arts school while the girls and I were in Nashville. They were going to check out the possibility of lessons. We came home to an empty house and when the boys arrived, Samuel and Solomon were wearing white uniforms! They are most excited about "fighting lessons" :) Samuel told me that he was afraid he would smile too much. I said, "Is smiling not allowed?" He said, "No, it's not that, it's just..." I said, "You're so happy about it that you want to smile a lot?" He said, "Yes, and that's..." I said, "a little embarrassing?" He said, "Yeah." Sweet boy! I told him there was nothing wrong with being happy and smiling and to not be embarrassed. I am pleased that he's so pleased. He asked if it was something he could do until he was grown up. I suppose that means he'll breeze through the 6 week trial period! :) Solomon is more matter of fact about it. Me: Did you like it? Solomon: Yes. Can you help me take this (uniform) off? :)

The other really exciting thing is that our bridge, which was damaged in the flooding, is now fixed! The old bridge support walls were used as part of the form for building new supports. It now has wing walls and guard rails. The driveway between the bridge and the road was also redone in concrete. Some of the fill rock has settled under the driveway, which makes me a bit nervous... we need to bring about 20 tons of fines (small gravel/manufactured sand) over it to line our barn floor, and I pray it doesn't break the driveway there!!! The wing walls also need some more fill rock behind them, but we have plenty of that. It is good to have a place to dump collected rock!

Other than homeschooling, music lessons, and tending to the animals, that's about it here. We've not done any more on our indoor projects yet. It is the start of goat breeding season and hopefully, our first doe got bred yesterday. We will see in about 3 weeks if it took. If so, there will be babies in 5 months! Oh, I guess that isn't all... Since seeing some photos of myself taken in late June, I decided that I was really and truly going to make an effort at losing weight. I am now down 30 pounds. I'm right about where my doctor said I should be, but I'd still like to lose a bit more if I can. It's very slow going at this point, though. A 30 pound weight loss necessitated a shopping trip, and I just happened to go to Goodwill on the first Saturday of the month, when everything was 50% off. I bought 13 pair of jeans, 4 pair of boots, 7 skirts, 7 tops, and 2 dresses for $108.90. I may never go clothes shopping anywhere else!

Blessings on Wheels

2010-08-19T08:43:00.000-05:00

Some friends had a truck (and a few other vehicles) that they wanted to get rid of. The truck seats 6 (convenient, huh?) and has high miles and a few issues (A/C, power steering, cracked windshield, front door doesn't close right, and some other cosmetic stuff) so was offered to us cheap. It's a perfect farm truck! So far, I've been able to go get the sawmill lumber boxing to side our chicken coop, hay, and today I will go get metal for fascia boards for the remainder of our barn and the new coop. After the metal is covering the fascia, we'll be able to put the roofing on. What a blessing it is to have a vehicle that holds all the kiddos that can do this sort of work! So far, we've had the windshield fixed, and we think the kids at the local high school can do the work on the power steering as an auto mechanics class project for the cost of parts. Wouldn't that be nice?! (In the mean time, I am getting stronger arms. :)

Our chicken coop has really taken shape with siding up!

The work on our bridge should begin shortly... when the water in the creek recedes a bit. A couple telephone poles and a crossbeam from which to hang a farm sign will go in at the same time, and I'm pretty excited about that! A friend who is a graphic artist is working on a logo for us, and I can't wait to show it off! Just the preliminary sketches for us to choose from were phenomenal!

Other than that, we're just truckin' along! School, chores, music, etc. Shiphrah will start ballet lessons next week. Solomon has started violin lessons and is thoroughly pleased with himself. :) The kiddos are sick today (beginning of the school year crud) but otherwise doing well. I have been on a mission to get thin again and am now down about 24 pounds. :) Anywhere from 11 to maybe 26 more to go, wherever this new diet change takes me! Hopefully I get there in time for us to get some good family photos before Christmas this year. :) Happy Thursday!

School Underway!

2010-08-03T19:12:00.000-05:00

We began our first full day of school today. Our weekly and daily schedule has been finalized, and though our days will be busy, they are do-able and we've made sure to keep our Saturdays unincumbered in case we need them for projects (which is highly likely, given that we have many left to complete! Our wood for barn siding has arrived and we've started on that, but the heat makes the task not one we are eager to get to, as necessary as it is! Indoor stuff is even behind that.)

Our first Phonics and Math lessons went off without a hitch and because we're using all the same curriculum suppliers, the transition from kindergarten to first grade for Samuel looks like it will be a breeze. Shiphrah has sat through the majority of what she will be doing this year in kindergarten last year as Samuel worked on it, and seems to be a pro at it already. For Bible, we are doing the New Testament version of what we did last year--reading through chapters of The Child's Story Bible and answering comprehension questions out of the Veritas Scholar's program, with art projects and timeline coloring pages interspersed.

Grammar was uneventful except that it took at least an hour of preparation on my part. Seems silly since I taught grammar before, doesn't it? The preparation entailed copying a ridiculous amount of photos off the internet, printing them, and cutting them out for a classification exercise. I am going to have to plan ahead a bit better!

Art was rather a letdown. We were most excited about the Calvert Course video and projects. The project given will be a pencil drawing of the night sky this evening after the sun sets--nothing terribly glamorous. The video displayed poor acting and the actors needed water. (Dry mouth smacking sounds are a pet peeve!) Additionally, they spoke of beautiful things in nature as occurring by accident, and art as being intentional. I must disagree about this point, and Samuel and I discussed that. The beautiful things in nature do not occur by accident, but are intentional--intended by God for His glory and our enjoyment. When we make art, we are simply revealing one of the ways in which we are made in His image, imitating God in His creative act.

In the midst of school, we made sure to listen to our Suzuki CD's for piano and violin. The kids did their practice this morning after breakfast. Additionally, they watched Shiloh while I did barn chores, Shiphrah washed eggs, and they helped put away some laundry. I pulled a pan of made-ahead lasagna out of the freezer for dinner, which feels like cheating even though I did make it at some point! We need to go make some more bread before our evening art project... All in all a good day. It's amazing what we can get done when we have a plan!

School Starts Next Week!

2010-07-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

It is a busy time around here preparing for the new school year. Solomon will begin violin lessons, so we got him his first violin, and Samuel got the next size up violin just the other day. They're both very excited!

Shiphrah will be in charge of making bread for the family. She is learning measuring, fractions, following directions... Here is her first loaf:

We need to go buy a truckload of crayons, get some posters laminated (our hallway will become the homeschool poster wall, instead of the family photo wall!), and finalize our schedule.

This weekend, we will be attending the School of the Nashville Ballet's open house and will probably sign Shiphrah up for lessons this semester. She has become much more diligent and accepting of correction in her piano practice, so we think she is ready. I'd love to take an adult beginning class if one is offered on the same day, but I'm not holding my breath. :) Would be great exercise, though!

The wood to complete our chicken coop was supposed to be done yesterday, but it is not... which puts me behind schedule. We will be putting the bucklings in there to begin with so that I can prepare the does for breeding without them causing trouble! I still need to sand the bathroom so it can be painted also. I will probably not get to shaving the goats again for linear appraisals... maybe just feet, tails, and udders. Our appraisal date is August 14th, and I'm really looking forward to that!

Well, much to be done, and it doesn't get accomplished while I'm sitting here!

Chicken Coop Progress

2010-07-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

David has all the rafters up! He is now working on the hurricane straps and purlins. We've ordered the wood for the siding which should be cut and ready next week. There are a few metal edging pieces to be purchased before we can put up the metal roofing. It's just coming along!

I've stalled on the bathroom. Laundry, cheesemaking, barn chores, and cooking ahead have taken precedence right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back at it soon. The walls are ready to sand and when that is done, primer and paint can go on! Then, we have a mirror that can go up over the vanity and David will have moldings to get to. He has so many projects! Our living, dining, hallway, and possibly kitchen are to get fresh paint, too. He told me last night that he'd like to go next summer with out any major projects. Hmmm... I'm not sure I know what that would be like! Does a garden count?

Mini Vacation, 2010

2010-07-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

We got a chance to get away for a couple days, thanks to some sweet friends who were willing to come milk, feed, and water our goats! That's a blessing that I didn't know we'd see at this point in our lives! We started out with Dinosaur World. It was hot and sweaty, but the kids really enjoyed it. The very best kind of dinosaur zoo is the kind where they're all statues and cannot make dinner out of us. Thankfully we live in that era!

After that, we drove up to the Newport, KY area and checked in our hotel. Clearly, folks there are not accustomed to seeing large families, because someone commented on the size of our family every time we got out of an elevator. I giggle every time I think of it, because we are one of the smallest families in our church.

After we checked in our hotel, we went out to dinner at Brio Italian Grille. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was very nice, too. Our waiter seemed a bit uneasy at first about serving a table with four small children. When we were ready to leave, he told us that it had been a joy to wait our table. While he could have been looking for a good tip, our children were very well behaved. It is always so nice when that happens and people's presuppositons about lots of children are changed.

That evening (and the next) we cooled off in the hotel pool. The kiddos loved it and I felt like I got good and enjoyable exercise walking through the water with Shiloh. :) Daddy played catcher, as all the kiddos wanted to jump into his arms, climb out of the pool, and do it all over again.

The following day, we went to Creation Museum. It was a great facility and one we will go back to when the kiddos are a little older. There is much to read, so they couldn't get the full effect on this trip. There were over 50 videos through the creation walk, though, so they did get to see those, all the pictures, and some really neat exhibits including a model of Noah's ark with people and animals placed in for scale and an animated Noah who would answer questions.

Following the Creation Walk, we went to the Planetarium Show. Shiloh and I got kicked out because she was fussy. Clearly not the Family Integrated Church crowd there. Oh well. Everyone else loved it! There are two different planetarium shows and we only saw one of them. Something to do on another trip! It also makes me want to check out when the Western KY Univ. planetarium has their public shows. It was the most enjoyable part of my astronomy class there.

While at the museum, we also perused the bookstore. Of course. :) Wonderful curriculum materials! I got an incredible 25 foot long poster that outlines the history of the world based on Ussher's The Annals of the World and I am trying to figure out where to put it. It is just the thing I wanted as a little girl studying history and trying to make sense of it all and how it all fits together. If only I had a blank 25 foot wall in my house... This will take some work. :)

We went outside to look at the gardens at the Creation Museum, which provided us some good photo opportunities. Of course, our family would look less sweaty and dissheveled if it were not 100 degrees out that day, but we are together and the background is nice. :)

We enjoyed the petting zoo while there. The goats at Nashville Zoo's Critter Encounters convinced us that we needed goats. The sheep at the Creation Museum Petting Zoo... well, you get the idea. That, and David is particularly fond of lamb. :)

After the petting zoo, the kiddos and I had a short ride on Gomer, the camel. Following that, we went back to our hotel and got cleaned up for dinner.

That evening we went to Chart House on the Ohio River for dinner. It was a delicious dinner, but the food wasn't quite as good as Brio, and it was a lot more pricey. The view was spectacular, though!

The next day, we made our way home, stopping at Mammoth Cave for a tour on the way. We took the 2 mile historic tour. Shiloh rode in the baby carrier on my belly the entire way. I was thankful for the 54 degree cave air! Really, I know it doesn't sound that bad, but she's 35 pounds and I'm not in the shape I used to be! (a little more round now)

All in all, it was a fun, busy, and educational trip. We came home to well cared for animals and are ever so thankful to have had the opportunity to go!

More project photos

2010-07-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share a few more photos of what is going on around here. David is making a good deal of progress on the chicken coop. Unfortunately, the baby goats were all interested in the commotion, came over to check things out, and while they were there, they did something to David's tractor. It won't start and the battery is fine, so... ??? A call to Kubota this morning is in order!

I've been talking about these doors we've installed... There is painting yet to be done, but here's the back door, well, part of it. My utility room is too small to get a good photo of all of it, and if I took it from outside, you coudn't see the nifty slide thingy for opening, closing, and twisting the little blinds inside the window. :)

And our front door... yes, more painting. When I was a little girl, we had a front door that had leaded glass windows in it. I always loved that door, and this reminds me a bit of that. I also love those little storybook cottage doors with the arched top. Not very practical to put one of those in our house, but I like the effect of the arched window here. David is enamored with the energy savings and how there isn't a huge burst of heat when you walk by our front door any more. I guess I like that, too. :) It is an adjustment to have light coming through the door that wasn't there before (despite the gaping hole from an improperly installed door from the factory!) We keep going over to shut the door only to realize that it is already shut! After buying the door, we realized that the Apples have the wood version of this very same door with all the sidelights and header around it. I recently discovered that some other friends have it, too. Kind of neat, anyway. There is a storm door on the outside of our front door now, too. I didn't get a photo...

Getting the doors out of our bedroom prompted me to do a bit of rearranging in there. Once I had the furniture moved, there was a huge space over our bed that needed *something*. I've always loved this afghan and thought that rather than storing it in a bag in the closet, maybe it could be used. A $20 curtain rod and voila! Cheap decorating solution. The photo is dark because Shiloh is still sleeping in there. :) Maybe I'll get a better one when everyone is awake and the bed is made. :)

So that's it for now. The bathroom is ready for sanding and we're looking at paint colors. I'm also looking forward to finally putting up the vanity mirror that I found on Gallatin Freecycle!

Project Progress

2010-07-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Like most folks, summer is the time when we get to work on house projects. It has been a very busy summer thus far, and we are finally able to tackle more of our to-do list. Today, David put the auger on the tractor (and as heavy as that thing is, that is a project in and of itself!) and then dug 4 holes for posts for our new chicken coop. There are two more to dig, but that will require opening up the buck pen for a while, so we are going to get as much done before hand so they aren't wandering free for long.

I've been working on our bathroom, which is a project that began about the time I started this blog! It started with me ripping out wall around the shower head to repair a leaky water line and I promised photos of it when it was all fixed and pretty. I am slightly closer! David and I decided to build a linen cabinet in that bathroom, and I agreed I would do the drywall mudding and taping when the time came. David finished constructing the closet and hanging the drywall about 6 days prior to Shiloh's birth. I didn't get to any of the mudding or taping in a timely fashion at all, considering the circumstances! David has done some here and there, but I was going to be held to my end of the agreement. :) I absolutely detest this job, but I probably played with a little more play-doh as a child, so I tend to get it smoother pre-sanding, soooo.... the job is mine. Putting up joint tape causes me to think thoughts that no good Christian ought to think, particularly when PMSing, but anyhow.... David stumbled across some really cool self adhesive joint tape the other day, and I got inspired! I can put it up and THEN mud? It doesn't have to be done all in one messy, fumbling, clumsy, calamatous, and maddening step? I won't look like a mummy in any step of the process unless I really want to? The inventors of this lovely product have no idea what a help it is to my sanctification and my sanity, I am sure, but I thank them deeply. My bathroom would still be years from completion because the thought of paper tape and mud and corners (inside corners, no less, FIVE of them!) made me want to cry, scream, throw things... you get the idea. But now, I'm impatiently waiting on corners to dry so I can get to the other side of them, dreaming of paint colors (I think I have found decorating inspiration in a painting I was given for my 9th birthday) and all the other planning that that entails. Yay!

We have decided to get a bit of help with all of the projects we planned for the year, because there just isn't time to get to them all. Tomorrow, our other exterior doors will be installed! So very excited about that, and of course, I'm planning on painting the front door, restoring the shutters to their original color, and getting my bedroom (where the doors are currently being stored) back in order! David has been working on the repairs around the sliding glass door which he installed, and it looks as if much of our living, dining, and hallway are going to get a much needed fresh coat of paint. Yay! No more crayon on the wall! (for a few days, anyway!)

The next major project on the horizon is our bridge repair, and it looks like we will be able to hire the man to do that in the very near future. I am so thrilled! When that is done, we can finally stock our barn with hay for the year and maybe even bring fines in to raise up the barn floor and provide for better drainage. So very exciting! (well, to me it is!) One day soon, I will get to start planning flower beds and gardens, but I will be patient. One project (or ten) at a time!

Great Grandma Downing

2010-06-26T16:38:00.000-05:00

My grandma is now headed back to Michigan with my cousin Paul and his lovely family. We had to wake Shiloh from a nap to get a couple pictures before she left.

While Shiloh was still sleeping

It is so fun to see Grandma with my children. She adores children and it is evident. Shiphrah and Solomon crept in her bed to cuddle at night, which was just fine with Grandma! Well, last night, Shiphrah was too wiggly and it got old, but other than that, she seemed to cherish the luvins. :)

ADGA National Show and Soap!

2010-06-25T23:02:00.000-05:00

Samuel and I went up to Louisville on Wednesday to see the ADGA National Show. It was the first dairy goat show either of us have ever seen. We sure picked an amazing one to start with! It wasn't at all what Samuel expected (I think he thought it would be more democratic and interactive) and he was somewhat bored and disappointed. I was thrilled to see animals and people that I have only ever seen or talked to online. We drove up Wednesday and watched the junior show, and walked around looking at animals in their pens. Afterward, we went to our hotel to check in, then went out to eat. Upon the recommendation of our friend, Kevin, we went to Bistro Bar & Grill and had green chili wontons as an appetizer. I had Hot Brown as a meal, which my friend Denise told me was a Louisville specialty. While I had hoped to finish off with Derby Pie (another thing you should get while in KY) I couldn't make myself order anything with Pecans. So, we had chocolate cheesecake and enjoyed it immensely. Following dinner, we went to the hotel pool. The pool was a tad too cold and the spa a tad too hot. We got nice and sleepy in there!

In the morning, we had the hotel breakfast, and Embassy Suites is known around our house as having the most amazing breakfasts! Omelets made to order, sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, any type of fruit, cereal, juice, donut, coffee... The only problem was that we hadn't eaten one of their breakfasts since before starting our small farm. I am now so spoiled on our farm fresh eggs and goat's milk, that their omelets and milk tasted like paper. Ugh!

After breakfast, we went back to the Expo Center to see the Senior Alpine Show. The competition was fierce! Does that had appraisal scores of 92EEEE were excused from the ring! It was quite an education and I will be mentally sorting through much of it for quite some time, I am certain!

All the awards for the show were made by Don and Lee Jackson of Buckrun Pottery. You should check them out! http://www.buckrunpottery.com/ They ship fast, items are packed with incredible care, and their pieces are even more beautiful in person.

Following the show, we headed up to Indiana to see some new friends and their soap operation. Words can not do it justice, and because they have an incredible website, blog, facebook page, and videos galore, I thankfully don't have to find words. I have some of their soap, lip balm, and also picked up some laundry soap to try while I was there. Check them out at http://goatmilkstuff.com/ What they have done is truely remarkable and speaks of a great deal of commitment, sacrifice, determination, and love. Oh, and their kiddos (the two legged kind) are Adorable (with a capital A). :)

We left there and headed for home. It was a long trek, and Samuel was disappointed that we didn't get to go to Mammoth Cave or Dinosaur World on this trip. Hopefully soon, we will get a chance to do some of that stuff. Any one of those could be a one day event, capable of doing between morning and evening milking. And speaking of milking... I am so grateful for my dear husband who did the milking (and feeding and watering and cleaning) chores and running the house so that I could get a little time "off". :)

The evening before we left for Louisville, my Grandma Downing came to visit! I don't get the opportunity to see her often, and am most excited to have her here. :) She will be heading back to Michigan tomorrow, and it is my main goal for the day to get the kiddos cleaned up and a photo with Great Grandma Downing. :) They have enjoyed her immensely, and she has enjoyed them as well. I wish she lived closer! My next intended blog post will be photos. :)

Photo of Samuel and I checking out the Redwood Hills pens, taken by Celeste Eastwood of Fiddler's Ridge Dairy

Photo of Samuel & I watching the Alpine Juniors, taken by Ziggy Forester of Sunrise Farm

No Catchy Title

2010-06-16T22:08:00.000-05:00

What have we been up to lately? Let me see... I most felt like blogging last week, but it isn't exactly wise to tell the world that one's husband is out of town when he's actually out of town--best wait until he returns to mention it. So, now that he's back, I can say that he spent last week in Charleston, SC. His step-mom, Ann, passed on into Glory. She was diagnosed with Shy-Drager Syndrome a few years back, and given just a few years to live. She lived as long as could have been expected with this illness, and if you had asked Ann, she would have told you it was too long. When Bill (David's dad) left this Earth about 5 years ago, she wanted to go to Heaven with him; said it wasn't fair for him to leave her as they were supposed to go together. I have missed Ann since my last visit over a year ago. Our farm animals have made it impossible for both David and I to leave the farm at the same time, and when it comes to David's family, he of course, is the one to go. In the past few months, we've not been able to communicate even via telephone. When David last visited (I want to say it was late January) I did a good share of my mourning then. On this trip, David led the funeral service and spent some good visit time with family there in SC. (This family is particularly private, so I won't mention names, but you know who you are, and I sure wish I could have spent the week with you, too! I'm very envious!) I think anyone that knows Ann will tell you that she is the sort of lady that leaves you feeling loved and encouraged, the sort of person you want to spend lots of time around. In reflecting on her and what she meant to me, I am most inspired by her love of her husband and her desire to make the world around her a more lovely and loved place. When it gets right down to it, those are the basic things God has called us women to be, right? To glorify all that is within our reach. Ann was a delightful example of that, and I wish I had had more opportunity to sit under her tutilage.

When David returned, we celebrated Shiloh's, Solomon's and Shiphrah's birthdays. Solomon's birthday was the 10th of June. David was also gone for Shiloh's birthday (to D.C. on a school trip) on May 13th. We decided it easiest and most fun to just do our family celebration all at once. We still have much birthday cake to be eaten!

Since it is summer, it is the time for vacations. We don't vacation big--that requires much deeper pockets--but David isn't the only one that will get a chance to get away for a bit. My mom is headed up to Michigan as I type. Samuel is looking after her dogs, chickens, ducks, and guineas while she is away. David will take over the chores around here for a couple of days next week as Samuel and I go up to Louisville to see the Alpine portion of the ADGA National Show (that's dairy goats!) next week. My mom will be returning with my grandmother, and she'll spend about a week here before heading back to Michigan. We are looking forward to that! She has yet to meet our youngest two children, and she and David enjoy cheating each other at cards. :)

Meanwhile, we're just plugging away on projects. Exterior doors to be installed, a chicken coop to be built, and a bathroom to be mudded, sanded, painted... and then there are the every day tasks of milking, collecting eggs, watering, feeding, cleaning the barn... And right now, dinner needs to be made.

Family Photos...

2010-06-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

The Men, ages nearly 4, 7, and undisclosed. :)

Sleeping Beauty, Age 1

Samuel took this one... I'm grungy from barn chores!

Silly Sweetie! (Age Almost 6)

Foreign Visitors

2010-05-23T23:48:00.000-05:00

It's not really all that glamorous. I'm talking about visits to my farm website--the one with all the goats on it, not the blog (though this blog does have plenty of goat stuff...) For some reason it isn't showing up on my Cluster Maps (a widget in the sidebar of my homepage) but I do see on Clicky where my visitors come from. Recently, I've been visited by Canada, South Africa, Australia, Nepal, and Pakistan of all places! Those visits, of course, aren't from people who are looking to buy any goats, but they are looking to have questions about goats, chickens, and goats' milk answered. It's kind of fun to see that! Makes me think that perhaps an "articles" section might be worth while, if only to help answer questions and see where all the visits come from. :)

Hoof Trimming

2010-05-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

I seem to have fallen into a hoof trimming routine now: Week 1 = Adult does. Week 2 = kids. Week 3 = Bucks. Week 4 = Boers. Today I did the Buck's hooves and copper bolused the bucks and adult does. Next week I have to give the kids their next round of coccidia and worm prevention and their CD/T shots. Something goat related seems to always be on the calendar. The bucks, Showy, and Myrtle need to get shaved yet, too. The dogs all need their rabies shots and Poppy needs her last DHPPV. I'd give it to her if Solomon hadn't shot the vaccine all over my counter top! I prepared it, ran to the rest room, and came back to an empty syringe. Yay.

My milk stand just got a good scrub down with lots of water, a wire brush, and sunshine. I'm pleased with how much better it looks! Not that milk ever touches the stand, but you know. It's just nicer.

It's hot out, I stink, and so does Shiloh (who incidentally turns One Year Old today!). Time to hit the shower!

Local Flooding

2010-05-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

A few posts ago, I included a picture of pretty rock work that was added to the sides of our bridge to keep the bridge from washing out during a heavy rain. We never anticipated flooding! Nashville experienced record rainfall (since recorded history) and there are many faring far worse than we. The whole region has been declared a federal disaster area. Thankfully, we are on a hill and if the water ever came near our doorstep, most folks would do well to own an ark. Our bridge, however, didn't stand up so well. Rather the land on the sides of our bridge didn't stand up so well. It is somewhere downstream. While David and my mom are brave enough to cross the bridge, I'd rather not! I've parked across the street at the church and will drive over it again when it is fixed! It may be a while...

Recent Additions

2010-05-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

Since I last posted, we had another doe kid. Isabella gave us twin bucklings, one sundgau and the other chamoise. Isabella was a great mother and the bucklings were very nice, but we didn't need 2 more bucks. The boys have gone to their new home as bottle babies. Isabella cried for a few days but is okay now. She is giving us close to a gallon of milk a day already! Since taking the above photo, I have shaved her udder and fixed the horrid job I did on her tail. Learning to shave a goat has been interesting! :) Isabella is the sweetest doe in our barn and has taken to the milkstand very well. I am super pleased with her! I can't thank Tracy enough for all the beautiful animals she entrusted to us!

We also have another addition to the herd. His name is Kevin's Finbar. We call him Finny. Kevin gave me this description of his naming: Finbar means "Fair Haired" and has been popular since the sixth century when St. Finbar came to an area of Cork that was being tormented by a serpent. The people begged him to do something to help them. One night he went to where the serpent was sleeping and sprinkled it with holy water. The angry serpent tore and devoured the land until she slithered into the sea at Cork Harbor. The track she left behind filled with water and became the River Lee and that's why St. Finbar is the patron saint of Cork. It is said that the sun didn't set for two weeks after Finbar's death.

The little fella that has such huge shoes to fill would be the chamoise buckling sporting the orange collar and trying to give Shiphrah a kiss. :) We will try him out on either Opal or Adelaide this year (and the other will be bred to Handel) and look forward to seeing what he does and how he blends with our herd. He has spectacular genetics behind him and we're ever so thankful to Kevin Kinney for letting us have him!

Fencing through the woods

2010-04-19T11:28:00.000-05:00

This is a portion of the fencing in our woods. We still have some T posts to put between the trees, and to close some gaps at the bottom that we couldn't escape creating due to the lay of the land. However, all the fencing above the ridge is stretched and in place, which was a major undertaking. We've put up over 1000 feet of fencing thus far.

This is just a view of the inside of the new goat pen. I'm very excited about all the leaves they will have to eat and the rocks they will have to climb upon! It doesn't look like a lot here. We still have't finished leafing out yet! Come mid-summer, the undergrowth gets really thick!

My camera lied and told me it got another shot through the woods of our fencing where David had cleared a nice path for the tractor and we put in scads of T posts. Cest la vie! You just might have to visit to see it! ;)

My final photo for the day is of the bottom corner of the pen. We got all the rest of the posts in and have one more goat panel and a few gates to purchase, and then when I move the Boers out of quarantine, we'll use the 2 goat panels from that pen to complete this one. Then, the new chicken coop will be built where the current quarantine pen is located and a new quarantine/breeding pen (part of my old buck pen) will go in. Much done, but much yet to do! Isabella is due to kid in 11 days. Two weeks after that, I have a new buck (yes, another one--I'm crazy! :) coming, and not long after, Uncle Ned will be leaving for his new home. One of these days, I might get some things planted, but we will see! We've got feed mill runs scheduled for today along with school, music practice, laundry, ironing... Better get crackin'!

Boer Babies

2010-04-19T11:04:00.000-05:00

The two on the right are sisters. Their mother is Charlotte, so I'm thinking of something like Savannah and Dallas for them, but I'm not settled on anything. I'd like the children to name them. The doe on the left is the polled (born without horns) Boer 75%/Alpine 12.5% /Nubian 12.5% cross. She's a month younger, and apparently sleeps with that chicken in the photo (note the mess on her back as a result!) They are currently in my quarantine pen. When I get them to like me (because I'm the food lady) and through their shot and worming regimen, they will go in with the dairy does. When we are able to fence out another pasture (but we've done enough fencing for now!) they will probably get moved. So, this is the beginning of our meat herd. :)

Opal, Uncle Ned, and Adelaide

2010-04-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo of the goat babies. My camera is slow and Uncle Ned looked down before I got the best shot of them.

Yesterday's Fencecapades

2010-04-14T06:24:00.000-05:00

This is what our fence line looks like now. We needed to clean a section of it out for putting in a new fence for part of the doe pen.

After cleaning out small trees, brush, vines, rock, old fencing, and getting ready to install new...

This is the fencing we did get installed. It extends over the ridge and involved a bit of fancy tractor and ladder work to get it in place. We'll then put fencing on the ground up to the ridge, and do a little wire weaving and rock moving to fill in gaps. Rocks like this aren't very cooperative when it comes to fencing!

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

With a title like that, you might expect vacation photos, but Spring Break around here means projects. So, Here's a photo of a dog taking a break by a small pond created by a spring up on top of the hill. That's as close as it gets!

We're working on fencing about an acre and a quarter for a new larger doe pen. This is so that I don't have to let them roam freely over the property but can keep them in a pen. This will allow me to plant shrubs around the house, keep phone lines in tact, and keep the goats safe, too. This is a portion of a trail through the woods where we will install fencing. Trees will be the major fence posts with metal T posts in between as needed. The branches on the ground in front of Samuel and Samson are part of what cracked the fuel filter cover on David's tractor and delayed the project about a week while we were waiting for the part to come in.

Here's Samuel sitting on a gnarled old Osage Orange tree in the woods. This tree goes by many names: Bodock (Bois d'arc), Horse Apple, Hedge Apple, Iron Wood.... The wood is orange inside and it will kill a chainsaw blade (or a fuel filter canister), quick.

Looking into the woods from the last of the fenceposts

Coming out of the woods and heading to the driveway. We put up another 225 feet of fencing yesterday. It's not attached to the metal posts yet, but is attached to the wood ones.

From the driveway looking up...

Half way up the hill looking down...

Halfway up the hill looking up...

Our bridge was beginning to cave in at the corners. Ricky Troutt brought his backhoe and a dumptruck full of fill and arranged these rocks to hold the fill and save our bridge! Our farm wouldn't be the place it is without all the work he has done for us. From bulldozing, to water lines, to septic system, and more, he has been a great blessing to us!

Mr. Troutt also put in some large cedar posts at the base of our driveway that will one day hold a solar powered gate.

Looking down the hill

Samuel, Samson, and Puppy (Poppy? What do you call a dog who has been called nothing but Puppy for 3 months before you get her?)

Blooms in the Buck Pen

Looking into the new Doe Pen from the back yard

A view of the fence dividing the back yard from the doe pen. I'll have to move that hammock out of there.

Birthday Bed!

2010-04-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

A bit belated but worth the wait. Since this photo was taken, David cut that board in the right side of the photo (and a few others) to make a desktop for Samuel under the bed. Since the bed was just lumber in our living room on the actual birthday, we made a birthday trip to Lowe's to pick out the paint color. Red, of course! Samuel is most pleased and everyone else in the house now wants one! :)

Birthday Boy!

2010-03-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

7 candles on the cake! (one is hiding) I can't believe Samuel is so big already! The Ides of March will forever have a new meaning for me! :)

What we're up to!

2010-03-08T08:55:00.000-06:00

From this photo, you can see the new half wall (sort of) and gate in our buck barn. The bucks no longer have a northern exposure, and they're very happy to give up 32 square feet for that trade off! You can also see the beginning of the new chicken coop--it's that board bolted to the north side of the barn. :) The coop will be attached starting from there. Much to be done, but not yet.

My photos don't get loaded in order, so this might be tougher to follow... but you see those posts along the driveway at the bottom of this hill? From there, the posts will continue along the driveway going up the hill (notice the hole in the foreground?). We'll be fencing a section of our woods for the does, and perhaps section a bit more of it off later for the bucks.

This is shows a few posts dropped in holes (but not yet leveled or concreted in) over to where I was standing to take the previous photo.

Further on, looking back to where I stood for the previous photo...

From where I stood to take the previous photo, I turned around to show where the fence will head off into the woods. We'll be avoiding a little watering hole used by the deer so as to help prevent the spread of meningeal worm (which doesn't affect deer, but can take a goat down in short order.)

Backing up for another photo of the posts along that stretch. These posts will have 2 metal t- posts between them. We'll be using 5 foot horse fencing along here.

You can see the rolls of horse fencing that will be used for the back side of the pen and through the woods in the background over by the barn. This section of fence has already been leveled and the holes filled with concrete. No metal t posts will be used here. This is what we look at out our back door, and we want it to be pretty as well as functional. We are using 4 foot goat panels behind the posts for this section of fence, and will eventually add a 3 boards to the front.

We've yet to put fence posts in all the way to the edge of the property, because our neighbor intends to clear the property line of old fencing and brush, leave only large trees, and put up a new fence. We are leaving room for him to maneuver his bulldozer right now. The rocks and woods in this photo are a glimpse of what the doe pen will be like.

We love that they will have plenty of rocks for wearing their hooves down and plenty of leaves to eat. Goats love leaves! There will not be much grass at all, which is also good. If given the choice, goats eat trees rather than grass. Grass is also a great place for intestinal parasites to hide out and continue their life cycle after being swallowed by the unsuspecting goat. That is why rotational grazing is such a help to the organic meat farmer. However, rotational grazing either requires full time work moving fences or a huge capital outset to fence out a bunch of separate pastures. We have neither the time or money for that right now, which is yet another reason goats are a good fit for us. Cows and sheep "eat down" (grass) and goats will "eat up" (leaves).

It is the perfect time of year to be building fences--not a lot of vegetation growth to contend with, but the ground is no longer frozen and the temperature makes working outside rather fun! David took the van to work today so he can pick up more 4x4 post for that stretch along the driveway, and bags of concrete mix at Lowe's before coming home. Tonight, we hope to brace and concrete all the posts. Perhaps after tomorrow's rain, we'll pound in the t-posts while the ground is yet soft. We'll use trees as much as possible through the woods, with a few T posts interspersed as needed. I not only look forward to the bigger pen, but also getting rid of the pile of materials! After fencing (or maybe in conjunction with fencing) and before the chicken coop, we'll be building Samuel a loft bed for his birthday. Solomon will get one for his birthday, too. we're all very excited! :)

Walking through the woods on an early spring morning

2010-03-06T09:15:00.000-06:00

Plenty of stuff for the goats to eat still

Really cool rock formation. There are tons of these all over. I'm sure we have a cave somewhere... if only I can find it!

Shiphrah asking the goats why they had to get on her rock, too!

Candid shot of my silly goats climbing rocks, and exploring what there is to eat!

Shiphrah

2010-03-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

My silly, precious, wonderful Shiphrah has been opposed to getting her picture taken lately. So if you've wondered if I've favored the other kiddos over her due to the lack of photos, now you know I haven't! But this morning, my darling, early rising, Little Miss Pink agreed to go on a walk through the woods with me (and the goats) and agreed to a few photos as well.
I took a few more like this one, but the very best was the first, unsuspecting. :)

The first photo she agreed to... nice way to get her feet wet, I think. :)

She tried feeding leaves to the dogs. The goats like them better, but the dogs still play along, they love her so much!

Probably my favorite. Of course, this photo is not really of her, but just to compare the size of this big tree... Of course. :)

Other Than Sunday

2010-03-03T19:06:00.000-06:00

I frequently take photos of everyone all dolled up on Sundays, but thought it might be nice to capture a bit of our "everyday" routine, too.

Shiloh's learning to stand and showing off her teeth!
Solomon said, "Take a picture of ME, Mama!"

Samuel's sharpening his pencil. Shiphrah and Solomon are "playing school" with us!

Samuel at his desk. I think he's saying, "What are you doing, Mom?" Me? I was thinking I should have got some photos of music practice and how I'll look back on these when we're all much older and miss these times.

Daddy Pictures

2010-03-03T19:02:00.000-06:00

I'm always taking pictures of the kiddos, but David really does live here, too!

Reading The Magician's Nephew to the family after dinner
Ain't he cute in his reading glasses? :)

With the latest Daddy's Girl

Things you will find here:

2010-03-03T18:58:00.000-06:00

Goats in the living room on occasion!
Freshly collected eggs

Showy's Wednesday Evening Milk

More eggs...

God Teases Just Like David

2010-03-02T06:53:00.000-06:00

Or maybe I have that backwards. Anyhow, when I stepped out the back door this morning, milk bucket in hand, I saw snow flakes floating by our flood lights. I laughed. It reminded me so much of how David would leave a dresser drawer ever so slightly open to mess with my OCD when we were first married. David and the children have cured me of the OCD! Now God is working on my winter aversion! How silly He sometimes is! I am glad. :)

"Always something to do on a farm"

2010-03-01T06:52:00.000-06:00

I can attest to the fact that this saying is absolutely true! Aside from the general maintenance side of things, which includes feeding, milking, collecting eggs, cleaning, trimming hooves, etc. there are the projects. Like anything else, time and money dictate which projects get done when, but I've also found that project priorities change with our circumstances.

When we brought our first goats home, our first project on the list after the basics were in place was to expand the size of the doe pen. We found that the goats did just fine outside the pen, and decided to focus our efforts on other things. After living with things this way a couple years, we've again prioritized this pen. Goats are curiously mischievous creatures that will not only eat your shrubs, but also take your grill, patio chairs, and phone lines apart if given the opportunity! They're not very discriminating when it comes to where they use the bathroom, and see absolutely no reason to refrain from standing on your patio table to nibble your umbrella and leaving a present at Grandma's seat at the table while they're at it. We are no longer amused!

The tax assessor was by not long ago to measure our barn. Our rate will go up. After chatting with him a while, I discovered that if we were using several small shed type buildings, these wouldn't be counted, but a larger barn means that the government should get more of our money. Interesting how that works. So I'm beginning to reconsider the larger barn we had planned on building and thankful that we haven't built it yet (though I was most upset at having to spend the money for it on boring things for the house previously. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes!) Now I am looking at the lay of our land, dividing it up into separate pastures in my mind, and putting a shed style shelter on the fence line of each one! Benefits I see are that not only will we pay less to the government, but these shelters will probably be a bit cheaper to build and can be done in stages, rather than all at once. That's always a good thing!

For the past 3 years, we've been itching to start a garden of our own. Two years ago, we were getting started with goats and building a barn during planting season. Last year, I was having a baby and goat chores were enough. This year we got together a seed order, made a plan for fencing out the garden to keep goats, chickens, deer, rabbits, dogs, etc. out of it... and last night decided that perhaps we need to wait and plant fall crops, because the spring will be so busy with all our other projects (fences) and Shiloh doesn't yet let me do much that can't be accomplished with one hand while sitting down! (I'm not adept at getting things done my first year with a baby!) I may try to do a few things, but am thinking about landscaping around the house with fruit trees and berry plants...perennials rather than annuals...when I know the goats won't be eating them!

Once the doe pen is done, and the garden area (well, the one up here; the one down by the road will remain undone) fenced, there is the chicken coop to build. We've modified our hay feeders so that the chickens can't get in them. Our buck pen has been completely redone as well. Always something going on! So this year, rather than growing our veggies, I just might buy them from the Mennonite market while I'm in the neighborhood buying feed! :)

9 months!

2010-02-15T19:11:00.000-06:00

Shiloh is now 9 months and two days old. As of this morning, she has a total of 6 teeth, all of them sharp. She likes to stand (with support), play with toys, make silly sounds, play with her siblings, and eat foreign objects. She dislikes when Grandma babysits, and as such, Grandma has vowed to not do it again for several years. She has shown an ability to sleep through the night if given the entire bed to herself while I sleep on the floor. She tolerates showers, enjoys making a mess of book shelves, and is wearing size 6 diapers. She loves to be kissed, hugged, and tickled. A most enjoyable little (or maybe not so little) squirt! :)

There goes 8 months!

2010-01-25T07:58:00.001-06:00

Time keeps flying by, and I'm ashamed to admit that Shiloh is the only child here that does not have a baby book! One of these days, I'll download all the photos I've taken to Snapfish, order, and then create something for her out of the writings I've made here on this blog. She might wind up with the largest baby book of them all!

At any rate, she's passed the 8 month mark already (where does the time go?!) and has a few milestones to report. She's crawling, low crawling, but it still counts. It would make my drill instructors proud. :) She only does it when she's after something, and not when she thinks I can see her. If I can see her and she knows it, she just cries and acts helpless! What a little stinker already!

She is babbling up a storm. Among all the jibber jabber are the typical babababa and dadadada that babies are famous for.

She currently has pink eye and is working on cutting her top two teeth. Everyone around here is sick in some form or fashion (and most of us, more than one form or fashion) so she's in good company...if you can call it that!

Lately, we've been planning our spring and summer projects, on of which, we hope will be a garden. I don't anticipate this being easy with Shiloh... Hopefully she'll do well in the stroller, or enjoy being outside then...

Winter and other thoughts...

2010-01-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

For those that know me well, you know I detest winter. The lack of sun makes me tired and cranky. The cold... I don't enjoy it. When I lived a winter in Michigan with my dad, and drove a car without a heater to class every day and had to keep the windows down and snow blowing in at me through the defrost vent so that I could see through the windshield and upon arrival at school or home, had to run my fingers under cold water until they first regained feeling and then stopped burning to prevent frostbite, well... it wasn't fun. Neither is it fun now when I have to clean out the animals' water buckets with bare hands in icy water. I'm just not a fan of that sort of thing. Unlodging chicken poop popsicles from roosts is another not-so-enjoyable task...

I know plenty of people enjoy winter. Whether they actually enjoy freezing, or they enjoy the occasion for lighting fires, wearing cozy sweaters, and drinking hot cocoa, I'm not sure. I should ask. I can understand the fires and cocoa, because I enjoy those as well. (I don't find winter to be a prerequisite, however, as I'd happily sweat before a fire or while drinking cocoa in the summer. Maybe if I had ever experienced a heat stroke, I'd feel differently...) Certainly some of the folks that enjoy winter actually enjoy the cold sensation. Perhaps some find challenging frostbite to be a particular thrill. Perhaps some folks actually choose to go out in the cold on a regular basis rather than enjoying the toasty fire indoors, and find it not to be at all an inconvenience.

If I were really sanctified, maybe I'd enjoy it, too. No bad weather, only different types of good weather? Perhaps I think too highly of myself that I don't enjoy being cold or inconvenienced. Nathan Wilson has a line in Notes From The Tilt A Whirl that is convicting. Okay, he has more than one. The one that comes to mind is something about the life being worth the death; spring being worth the winter. Others include those about being a complainer and the butt of joyful and appreciative folks' jokes...

So all this has me thinking about winter in different terms. If in fact winter does mirror death and spring life (and I believe it does) then it's okay that I don't particularly care for it, right? I mean, who enjoys death? But perhaps there is more there. Maybe it's really very dispensational of me to be longing for spring. Maybe it would be more postmillenial of me to instead get myself some water bucket heaters, and powdered teat dip and the like. Take dominion. Reverse the curse. Or perhaps, I need to revel in God's story more. Get over my bitterness toward Adam for sinning and realize that death is part of God's greater story. He ordained it. For our good, no less.

Take the chickens.

Bear with me here. There is a lot of talk in foodie and eco-friendly circles about seasonal living. Eat in season and the like. This is pretty easy stuff to get when you're thinking of what grows in a garden and when. So, we eat roots and squash in the fall and winter instead of fruit and lettuce. We can live with that... But then we have the problem of eggs.

See, chickens don't lay eggs when there isn't enough sunlight. Our modern world gets over that by the use of electricity. Put lights on the chickens, and they'll lay year round. Take dominion. Reverse the curse. All well and good, right? Well..... maybe not. This practice wears the chickens out. In 3 years, they're spent, though they could be productive much longer if we turned off the lights.

I'm seeing our chickens go through the winter naturally. Sort of. They have no artificial lights, but still get extra food. Anyhow, they look good. The break from laying eggs has been good for them. Their plumage is full and shiny. Those that looked a bit scraggly at the end of summer are thriving now. Okay, so cutting our rooster population in half has probably helped some, but I digress...

Maybe seasonal living for us means we should rest through the winter more. The lack of sunlight and my energy levels would suggest that. Perhaps it is good preparation for spring, not just so we will appreciate it, but there may actually be something restorative about it, like sleeping at night, or a Sabbath rest each week. Maybe if we lived that way, we could see how our our lives in this fallen world are preparation for the new life we will have in glory? Are they?

Maybe I'm trying to be too spiritual about it. It does help that I see cleaning my house as a reflection of my Creator--I keep cleaning messes; He keeps forgiving sin. So, I want to attach some deeper meaning to help me through the winter drudgery, to help me not be so discouraged when someone enjoys the occasion for cocoa and fires while I brave painfully cold fingers in tasks that cannot be accomplished while wearing gloves. Or perhaps it's just plain foolishness to have animals without a better plan for winter management. Whatever. I need a nap.

Didn't get a nap... David read this and thought, "Yep, it's evident which book you're currently reading..." Anyhow, I am now considering that the illnesses that go along with winter have something to add to its spiritual significance. I haven't quantified it all yet, though.

Last post of 2009

2009-12-30T16:57:00.000-06:00

What a busy few weeks it has been, and not entirely because of Christmas! It turned out that the Bosch hot water heater could not be vented properly in the small space we had to install it... at least not unless we wanted to pay $900 for installation! Uhhh... right. So, we had our propane company install a Noritz, and are selling the Bosch unit we were sent from the factory. We love the Noritz! It has worked faithfully, never opnce needing to be reset! Amazing! It has a pipe in pipe intake and exhaust vent so only one hole in the house! This means we have to redo a section of our roof...

Shiloh had a very fussy teething episode that didn't result in any teeth actually coming through the gums; just moving around in there. We discovered that Hyland's Homeopathic teething tablets are wonderful! They work almost instantly to take away pain, reduce fever, put her back to sleep... but wear off after an hour! I was one tired mama for about a week.

Like everyone else, the Christmas season has been keeping us busy. We enjoyed a Jamie Soles (and family) concert at our church. If you've never heard of him, you are missing out! Great fun music for kids, that adults can't help but enjoy as well. Check him out here: www.solmusic.ca

Additionally, our Christmas Eve Lessons & Carols service was delightful, followed by a fun evening of visiting, eating, and unwrapping presents with the Apples. Christmas day, after all the morning fun, I cleaned while David cooked, and we had "Uncle" William and the Zs and of course my mom over for Christmas dinner. I can't say much for my cleaning... I had loads of discoveries in the kids' rooms... but David and my mom made a wonderful meal!

We've been celebrating the twelve days of Christmas, so each morning there is something new to unwrap and discover. Sure keeps the kiddos entertained! We were also able to enjoy the company of the Hays family recently. We really enjoy them, and the kiddos have so much fun together. :)

David has been tackling my new honey-do list: barn projects! The doe pen is now smaller (they get let out most of the time), the buck pen is larger, and there is a chicken coop to be built. Additionally, we bought fencing to do one side of our property and fence out a garden.

Yesterday, we all went to see Mr. Morrison for David's and Samuel's haircuts. We figured Solomon could wait until next time, as much of a fuss as he makes over it. Well, after Samuel got out of the chair, Solomon hopped up there like a big boy! He got his hair cut and didn't fuss a bit, though his neck was mighty ticklish!

Today, I took Myrtle to the vet to have an ultrasound. I bred her to Mozart on November 6th, but on the 26th, she had a little bloody show. She never came back into heat, though, and I wanted to find out what is going on. She has at least two healthy babies in there! So maybe there were 3, but nothing looks amiss now. I'm super thrilled!

We are enjoying our family time together, look forward to getting caught up on some things around the house, and watching the kiddos enjoy the rest of the holidays! I didn't get Christmas cards out this year, but hope 2009 has treated y'all well, that you enjoy the remainder of this Christmas season, and that 2010 brings you much joy in the Lord!

Shiloh's Second Tooth!

2009-12-11T10:54:00.000-06:00

Now you see it....
...Now you don't!

When it rains, it pours

2009-12-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

I'm not just talking about the weather we've had lately, either. Some advise I'd give to newly married couples or new home owners: check your warranties. Make sure they don't all come up at the same time. Our oven and our roof would be good examples of that. Also make sure that when you have work done on your house, go with someone who has been in business a long long time. Our driveway and old HVAC are the results of fly by night disasters, and we can't get hold of the folks that put them in, because they're out of business. It seems our water heater is another...

Five years ago, we got a tankless hot water heater. We special ordered it from Lowe's, and called the manufacturer to get the name of a licensed technician who had gone through their training to get it installed. The installation took a couple of days, and the installer was one of the most annoying people to have in our home for that long, constantly talking about how good he was and seeking out other parts of our home that needed repair to drum up more business... We didn't hire him for anything else. I couldn't listen to him any longer!

Anyhow, we've had problems with the hot water heater ever since it was installed. We called the manufacturer, and they told us it was a gas problem, according to the error code, and told us to call our gas company. We have had the gas company out several times. We had them install a dedicated line just to the hot water heater, with its own regulator. We had them adjust the pressure over and over...

And then two days ago, out hot water heater died. We called the manufacturer again to get a licensed repair technician to come out, since we couldn't find the man who originally installed it. I called the company they told me to call, and yesterday evening he discovered that both our heat exchanger and the computer on the hot water heater had gone bad. That would make repairing it just as expensive as replacing it. The reason it went bad so soon, and it turns out the reason we've had problems all along, is from improper installation....even though we went with an installer they recommended who had gone through their training. The installer shortchanged us on the work. He said we could have the installation for $350 if he could reuse our current exhaust vent, but $450 if he had to put in a new vent kit. He told us our current exhaust vent was good and would work, and still charged us $486 for the install. Hmmm... And then, the exhaust vent wasn't good, because it allowed rainwater down in it. This may have been fine for a tank style unit with the heater on the bottom. It is not fine for a tankless unit because it had to burn off the water each morning before it would start, and in the process, completely corroded the heat exchanger and shorted the computer.

Now, our hot water heater has a twelve year warranty on the heat exchanger. However, the warranty is invalidated if it's improperly installed. Given that we went with their installer, and followed their recommendations whenever we had a problem with the unit (and lived with the problem of it being a nightmare to start each morning for the past 5 years because nothing we did helped, because they didn't address the real problem...) I really hope that Bosch will do something to help us out. I am waiting to hear from the man who came out yesterday to see what kind of prices they can give us on replacing this unit. I will be calling Bosch to see what they can do. I hope they will do the decent thing. We replaced a perfectly functional tank style hot water heater with their incredibly expensive tankless. We lived with the nuisanse if it not working properly, because we enjoyed being able to take super long showers when we finally did get it running. We followed all their advise. We just got an unscrupulous installer...and now have a sizable unexpected expense after two days of no hot water to show for it. I'm praying for a good outcome...

...to update, Bosch is sending a refurbished tankless hot water heater, free of charge. It is going out UPS ground tomorrow. We still have to pay for a vent kit and installation, but we get a brand new warranty. The only authorized plumber in the Nashville area has pneumonia... hopefully we'll have hot water by the end of next week. In the meantime, we're taking cold showers and boiling water for dishes and warm baths...

Shiloh's first Christmas

2009-11-30T07:08:00.000-06:00

Our little six-and-a-half month old bundle of joy checking out some of the trappings of the season.

I don't know that I mentioned that she got her first tooth the other day. She is no longer allowed to put my fingers in her mouth! :)

Preparing for Christmas

2009-11-30T06:52:00.000-06:00

Yesterday being the first day of Advent, it was only fitting that we fancied up the house in celebration of the Christmas season.
I recently strung a poinsettia garland around this candle holder and am very pleased with the result. :) The kiddos are very pleased with lit candles--something I don't do often.

We stored our Christmas tree in the hay loft last year, and found this year that it had been inhabited by mice. Ew. Yuk. So, this is our new tree. The kiddos enjoyed helping me decorate it last night. Excuse the blur.

Our Advent Wreath. The prophets candle and some of the poinsettia leaves have been the victims of three small children.

In an effort to flee from my Christmas roots, where it was all about Santa Claus and the presents, I refused to do stockings for several years. I'm finally at a place where Christmas is appropriately concentrated on Christ, and am able to enjoy stockings again. I believe St. Nicholas day is December 6th... or is that St. Boniface day? Anyhow, we'll look it up, study that bit of our church history, and enjoy this stocking tradition in honor of a saint in God's kingdom.

The nativity we have is a Little People nativity, so it has been claimed by the children and Baby Jesus is probably sitting in a stroller that belongs to the baby from the Little People play house. One of these days, I'll get a grown up one. :) I also want to make an Advent Calendar. I say that every year. I recently saw one at the home of Mark & Jamie Hays and it was beautiful! Maybe I can gather materials and make one with the kiddos this year, and even if we don't get to use it yet, we will have it for next year.

Project photos

2009-11-30T06:41:00.000-06:00

In the last post, I mentioned that we would be getting a new roof and exterior doors, along with making some additions to fencing and the barn. Well, here's the progress, thus far:
We discovered yet another reason for NOT owning a mobile home. The sliding glass doors in a mobile home are 3 inches shorter than standard, and slightly wider. So, David had to cut away sheetrock, remove the header, cut studs, re-frame and replace header in order to install the door. Additionally, we have our job cut out for us in finding the right size "stuff" to fix the framing outside, since the door is slightly narrower, and Southern Energy was none too generous with the vinyl siding. Then of course, is the inside. All our sheetrock is laid over regular mobile home wall material. So, in fixing the interior, we have 2 layers to put up, new moldings, paint, etc.

For some reason, Blogger uploads photos backward, so the next photo is of Samuel going down the ladder after checking out our new roof with Daddy:

You can see the fencing, pallate of concrete bags, and stack of lumber and fence stakes in the background (next to the barn) for the other projects, and our other exterior doors are currently taking up space in our bedroom. Below, you can see Samuel's first visit to our rooftop, and a glimpse of our new roof. He thought it was very cool. :)

Hallman Happenings

2009-11-19T08:22:00.000-06:00

Home ownership seems to be a giant money pit. Sometimes I would like to live in a cave instead. You don't have to buy a new roof for a cave. Or a new HVAC. Or new doors. And best of all, they're supposed to be dirty! But alas, I don't live in a cave so I will continue to clean, replace, repair, redecorate... And try to remember to view it as one of the ways I mirror my creator who continues to forgive and cleanse me. I'm so glad He doesn't stop or view it as drudgery or wish I was something else!

So, we have a new HVAC unit. Apparently, we had a low static HVAC before and high static duct work, and it caused a great deal of wear and tear on the system. We were looking at thousands of dollars of repair upon a great deal of money spent in repairs already, and no guarantee that something else wouldn't go wrong, so we got a new unit. It is a hybrid, so it runs on electricity when that's the most efficient way to heat, and then switches to propane when the temperature drops low enough to make that the most efficient way to heat. It's awfully nifty, but I can think of plenty of more fun ways to spend that money... I will not complain. Well, maybe a little. When they couldn't get the air flow readings throughout our house just right, they did a bit of investigating under the house and found a damper that should be open was completely closed. Huh. I wonder if THAT is what made our ductwork high static and the problem could have been solved a couple years ago much more cheaply and easily? Such is life, I suppose. Caves don't have to have ductwork, but I digress...

We also have a section of our roof that is rotten again. The same section that we had repaired 5 years ago. Apparently, there wasn't a leak around a vent, but our downspouts are just clogged and the water washes back up into the roofing at the highest point on the gutters... Really? Clogged downspouts?!??! Anyhow, we have 10 year shingles on our roof, and our roof has just turned 10 years old, so it's time to re-do it anyhow. A neighbor (who happens to have been a student of David's when he taught @ Gallatin Middle) is going to put a metal roof on for us. He does very nice work and beats everyone's prices. That will start next week. I'm looking forward to that being done.

With all these expensive projects, though, it seems that barn #2 will get put on hold for yet another year. Hopefully by the time we build it, the roofing we bought 2 years ago for it won't be a mess! Instead, this year, we will add on to our current barn and rearrange the pens and a little of the interior. The addition will be the new chicken coop which will get the chickens out of the main barn and I'm *really* looking forward to that! This will give the does more space in the barn which will be really nice come kidding season! We will divide the doe pen in half and give half to the bucks since it's so big and the does are out of their pen most days anyway. The buck barn will get reduced in size to make a way for me to feed them without going in their pen and give me access to the new chicken coop and a little more feed storage. The bucks have about twice the barn space they require anyway, so this isn't a big deal. I would love to also build some more fences to give the does a larger pen for when we aren't here and don't let them out, but don't know that that will happen this year. The current buck pen will be enlarged and turned into my garden area. I'm excited about how well fertilized it will be and look forward to *finally* having a garden of my own this year!

In addition to all those plans, we will be replacing the exterior doors on our house. I'm not exactly looking forward to that process, but new doors will be nice. Our current front door has a huge gap that can't be sealed with weather stripping, so closing that should make an impact on our heating and cooling costs. Our back door is begining to rust. Our sliding glass door... David hates it and has wanted to replace it for forever!

Barn #2 and new flooring throughout our house are still on the "to do list" ....maybe next year.

Other than that, we're just keeping busy tending to our little charges: human, caprine, and avian. :) I've rearranged our living room, which is a pretty big deal for me! I really like it! I'm working on recovering our dining room chairs. I am procrastinating on those that the kids sit in so that they'll be fresh for Thanksgiving when we have company.

Samuel is plugging away at his schooling. He's read two books and will begin his third soon. He's doing very well with math and violin--learning Etude and Minuet I now. Shiphrah is learning the French Children's Song on the piano and things are starting to click for her there. She and I have a date next month to go see the Nashville Ballet perform the Nutcracker. I anticipate ballet lessons will be in our future... Solomon is finally potty trained! They're all still sleeping.... maybe I'll take advantage of the time to peruse some seed catalogues!

Shiloh is 6 months old!

2009-11-19T08:02:00.000-06:00

I clearly don't update here often enough. I think Facebook has something to do with that.... Anyhow, I really must because I also haven't done a baby book for Shiloh (horrors!) and I intend to pull from this blog when I make her one. She turned 6 months old on Friday the 13th. I can't believe how time flies! She's blowing raspberries, sticking her tongue out, jabbering up a storm, rolling over (back to front and front to back) and loves to be talked to, tickled, and kissed. We just got the Babee Tenda out of the hay loft and cleaned it up, and she thoroughly enjoys sitting in it and playing with toys on the table. She loves her siblings and Samuel appears to be her favorite--she just lights up when she sees him! I wonder if it is because he feeds her for me the most! She is such a joy and quite the cuddler. :) Right now, she has a cold, but she faces it with glee! She enjoys listening to her raspy voice and jabbers extra just to hear it! So funny!

Sunday photos

2009-11-10T16:01:00.000-06:00

Samuel and his friend, Julian
Our girls

Our boys

The big kids!

Shiloh with Daddy & Samuel

2009-11-01T20:45:00.000-06:00

I'm the mommy!

2009-11-01T20:42:00.001-06:00

That's what Solomon declared after putting on my boots!

Never mind the upholstry fabric cluttering the background...

Before church today:

2009-11-01T20:38:00.000-06:00

Samuel was causing quite a stir about the sun in his eyes...

...and I quickly gave up all hope of getting a good photo before we had to head out the door!

Nothing Says Autumn...

2009-11-01T20:33:00.001-06:00

...quite like these colors!
Okay, so the chicken has always been this color (once she got her feathers)

But this is what we see across the street. The relatively non-treed property is ours...

A view of our current doe pen. I'm not sure who likes the rocks more--the goats or me!

Yesterday

2009-10-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

I haven't been too good with the photos lately, but there's a few for now! Yesterday after church, we bought Samuel some shoes. He was still wearing his sandals with socks for church, and it's been pretty chilly out lately! We got him dress shoes to match Solomon's, and some "every day" shoes since last year's were getting a bit tight. Shoes are always such a big ordeal... wide feet and expensive prices mean we go to the Stride Rite outlet at Opry Mills. The looks we get walking through the mall as a family are very entertaining! Some people think we're cute or precious, and those looks are always fun. Some people quite clearly think we're disgusting, and it's sad, but I can't help but laugh when we get those looks! Yesterday, in church attire, we were clearly more disgusting than normal to some folks. Oh well. I also get a kick out of our kids who don't frequent the mall--their reactions to things we don't think much about are priceless! Ugly modern art statues are awe-inspiring just because of their size... and the thought of climbing them makes a little boy's heart skip with glee! Water fountains filled with money are a trip, too! I know I read a story somewhere about kids that spent the night somewhere and bathed in a fountain and used the money for food or something the next day... I'll have to find that story for them. Was it The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? High ceilings, sky lights, hanging banners, 3 dimensional signs, a kiddie train, carousel... they love it! Now if only I could remove lengerie stores and Spencer's Gifts (especially Spencer's Gifts) from the mall... ick. Thankfully, they recognize that something isn't right about them and ask questions about that. Discernment is a lovely thing. We also peeked in to Strasburg while we were there. Shiphrah fell in love with a dainty pink dress, loaded with smocking and sweetness. Of course, it was really pricey, too! We saw a couple of cute dresses on the clearance rack... Matching Shiphrah and Shiloh is going to be loads of fun!

Not too much else is going on. Everyone is recovering from their colds. We're just plugging along milking goats, washing clothes, and doing school.

Not the happiest Sunday morning!

2009-10-26T09:11:00.000-05:00

Cuddling with Shiloh

2009-10-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

Michelin Baby

2009-10-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

She'll kill me when she's older, but I couldn't resist! I think she's terrifically cute!

Seems Like Forever

2009-10-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

I know. I haven't been updating as frequently as before. No, I'm not pregnant! :) Just busy! Shiloh is now 5 months old, and I need to take more photos! She is starting to play with rattles, show interest in food, and is pushing up, scooting around, and rolling over like a pro. :)

Our goats are settling in nicely and getting used to us. Mozart has learned to jump the fence--a whole year earlier than the previous inhabitants of his barn. (sigh) We will have to do something fast to insure he doesn't breed all the does. The older does, great. The younger ones... I really want bred to Handel and not quite yet! They have some sniffles, which is probably typical for this weather and particularly after such a move. I've been spending a great deal of time with them, which I think is especially important right now. The weather hasn't been the greatest for that, though.

We are all sick right now. Hence why I am posting before noon on a Sunday. Runny noses, sore throats, and general laziness abound. I finally finished about 5 weeks' worth of ironing, so it's okay to be a little bit lazy again!

The repair/replace list just seems to keep growing. Our oven, our couch, and now our vacuum and our kitchen faucet. I always wanted a water fountain, but never thought it would be in the form of a kitchen faucet...

This past week has been Fall Break for David (well, sort of. No kids, so he can work odd hours). He has accomplished a great feat over this break: potty training Solomon! We haven't ventured out of the house with Solomon sans diaper yet, and that should be interesting...

And now Shiloh's crying again. Time to stop typing and start mommying...

Sold!

2009-10-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a whirlwind of a year here with new goat kids, a new human kid :), new Alpines, learning how to milk, and the list just goes on. We had been talking about eventually selling our Nubians and focusing on our Alpines but planned on keeping the Nubians in milk in order to sell milk shares until the Alpines were producing enough to meet demands.

Since it is breeding season for the goats, we were looking at being able to sell shares and have a good milk supply for about a month or two, and then needing to dry off the does so they could grow their kids out well, and then picking the shares back up in the Spring. With the cost of feed for 11 goats we decided to sell the Nubians that aren't in milk to lower our feed costs. After thinking about it some more, we decided that if someone really wanted our Nubian does in milk, we could sell them, too. It would make life a bit simpler right now, and we've delayed selling shares this long, what's another couple of months? So, I listed them on Craigslist.

What a response!!! I had several inquiries within a matter of minutes! I was happy, yet sad at the same time. Everyone seemed to like a different doe the best, and I thought they would all be separated. I know that's how it goes when you sell livestock, but I thought it would be nice if they could at least go in pairs or something, so they'd have a buddy in their new home. And then I got a phone call...

A lovely, sweet couple from Norene TN asked if they could come out and take a look at my herd. When you've got goats for sale, you certainly don't tell someone that it isn't a good time, but I was really nervous! Our lawn isn't mowed. Our driveway hasn't been blown off recently. I haven't vacuumed the house in a week or so. And the goats have been somewhat out of order emotionally since the arrival of the Alpines with everyone trying to establish the new pecking order and all...

I discovered that they sold their herd of Boers (meat goats) and wanted to buy dairy goats. We talked for quite some time, and they offered to buy ALL of my Nubians! They said I could go visit when I liked, and they baby their goats like children. I couldn't have asked for a better situation! They also gave me one of the best compliments that a goat breeder could ever receive. They said they've gone to several shows, visited several farms, asked lots of questions, etc. Of all the places they've been, my Nubians looked to be the best cared for that they've seen. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Now, I tend to feed my girls awfully well, and that very well could have meant that I have the fattest Nubians they've seen, but nonetheless, it was an amazing compliment and one that is sure to make my heart sing for quite some time!

So, come Saturday, my barn will be far less inhabited, but that will be good for the winter. Herd shares will have to wait until the spring, but my work load will be cut for the winter, and that is very appealing! I'm so thrilled the Nubian girls will be going to such great folks, that they'll get to go together, and I'm certain they'll be spoiled and happy! It's a nice idea, too, to know that I can visit when I like, and I'm certain I'll take them up on that, particularly when the does kid! :)

Shiloh Yesterday

2009-09-28T08:43:00.000-05:00

hanging out in the swing after church
***

all ready for church (with our unfinished linen closet in the background)

Samuel read his first book!

2009-09-28T08:38:00.001-05:00

Okay, he looks pretty grouchy here with that scowl and his dirty (used as a napkin at lunch time) t-shirt! But that's only because Shiphrah wanted in his picture and he didn't want her stealing his thunder! Friday, we had some 3 letter words to read, and Samuel was MOST excited about them! He loves getting a chance to read now! After finishing those words, he said, "I could probably read that book about Pan now." (I read it to him a while back, and he recognized the words.) Even though it is about 9 lessons away, I decided to let him have a crack at it. He got through half the book and said, "This is hard. Maybe I'll stop there." I told him that was okay because he shouldn't be reading it for another couple of weeks and he did a great job making it as far as he had. Apparently that encouraged him to continue, and he finished the book! That night, he read it for Daddy and Daddy took this picture. He's very excited that by the time Shiloh can ask him to read her a story, he should be able to read to her!

Shiloh's 4 months old!

2009-09-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

Shiloh had her 4 month well visit this past Wednesday, so I'll share the details. She's right at 20 pounds! Poor thing just doesn't get to eat nearly enough! ;) So, it's time to change the carseat to the infant-to-toddler one. Still rear-facing, but it can handle a heavier weight. She's 25.5 inches long and her head is 17 something or other. I never pay too much attention to the head circumfrence. 90 to 95th percentile on length and head and off the charts on weight. Typical Hallman baby. :)

I never can remember when their eyes are finished changing color so I asked "Dr." Melissa (she's really a Physician's Assistant, but we like to call her that!) and she said they should be done by now. Wow! Our first blue-eyed kid! They all start out with blue eyes, but Samuel's are now green and Shiphrah & Solomon have brown eyes. Blue eyes and dimples. Isn't that something?! It sure is fun to see who God is going to create in each baby. All their personalities are so different and as much as they resemble one another, they each have their own unique look. Fun stuff.

Shiloh did really well during the exam and only cried once at the end when her little mouth had to be pried open to look down her throat! I might cry at that, too! :) She's quickly consoled, though. I had my well-visit after hers, and she did pretty well while waiting for me!

She's a lot of fun. Scooting around on the ground now, giggles when tickled, and smiles really big when you give her kisses. So sweet! She's really enjoying all the new animals, too. Isabella (the goat) even lets her pet her, which is really something because Shiloh isn't the best at petting. She often pulls hair, and Isabella is just as patient and doting as can be! :)

Alpines Settling In

2009-09-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

I'll have to share photos of the boys another day, but here are the girls!

Showy
Isabella

Starling

Showy & Myrtle

Waiting

2009-09-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

Today is the day I had expected my new Alpines to arrive, but various glitches have caused delays, and now it looks as if I'll be staying home from church on Sunday to greet them as they arrive.

My buck barn is freshly cleaned and waiting for new inhabitants. I need to repair a mineral feeder in there and if I didn't have a wee one that always needs holding and feeding, I might make some other adjustments just for a change, like maybe rearranging all the feeders. I do have a wee one, though, and not the time for all that, so fixing the mineral feeder will be the only "renovation" for now.

My Alpines are in transit, and it's tough not knowing exactly where they are or how they're doing. I wonder how they'll like me. I hear they are the "loves" of the barn, and really hope they decide they love me, too! I wonder how they'll get along with the goats I currently have. I am eager to learn their personalities and their habits and get to know them. I can't wait to take pictures of them here to share with you all!

Buckless

2009-09-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, beloved Jarlath found a new home. He will be residing with a herd of incredibly nice Boer goats at Dixieland Ranch in Lebanon, TN. The Griffiths are looking to add some more milk into their line of recorded grades, and are also using some dairy does as recipient does for some of their phenomenal ET (embryo transfer) Boer does. The marriage of technology and farming has some pretty incredible results, I'd say! I'm tickled that our little old fashioned farm had something to offer such a progressive and prestigious local ranch!

Today, Tripoli is going to make his trek to Bulletcreek Ranch in Reliance, TN. The Farrises have been looking to add some Kastdemur genetics to their Price O The Field lines, and Tripoli will make a great cross for them with the Kastdemur top and POTF bottom to his pedigree. He misses Jarlath, so it works out very well that he'll get to have lots of buddies, and a job to do again soon! In exchange for Tripoli, the Farrises will be providing the beginnings of a Stoney Heights Farm herd of Boers in the spring! I have admired the Bulletcreek Boer herd from afar for quite some time, and am absolutley thrilled with this addition to our farm!

So, until the Alpine herd arrives from Idaho later this week, we will be buckless! I can't say that I'm at all upset about that, though! Bucks are not my favorite thing in the world. :)

Today, our Alpines will be picked up in Idaho and begin their trek here. This has been a long time in the making, and I eagerly await their arrival! Yes, even the bucks. :)

Yesterday's Romp Through the Woods, Part II

2009-09-11T11:49:00.001-05:00

Heading Home
Maple leaves are a favorite!

Collecting acorn and hickory nuts

Look, Mama! An Acorn!

Yesterday's Romp Through the Woods

2009-09-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

really big oak tree in the background
Cinderella found a bone. Shiphrah is collecting Hickory nuts.

A really cool rock!

The Whole Crew!

Tuesday Monday

2009-09-08T17:23:00.001-05:00

Mondays always find me dizzy. The weekend whizzes by, and rather than resting, I think the weekends often bring more work. So Mondays I catch my breath, or try to. Today, while not Monday, is no different. Labor day has a way of turning Tuesday into Monday.

I got caught up on ironing, which is no small task. I'd just take David's clothes to the cleaners, except that a.) I'm cheap, and b.) we don't live in close enough proximity to a military base for the dry cleaners to have learned to do a better job than I do.

We ran to the feed mill in KY today also. I think our chickens lay better when they have variety, so I've been getting half their ration from the Mennonites, and half from Edward's. I also had to go up to KY anyway, and thought it better to kill two birds w/one stone, so to speak. I took a fecal sample to the vet and found NO worms (Woo Hoo!) and just a little coccidia in the wee ones. Not high enough numbers to fuss with at this point, but fussy me, I just might do it anyhow.

So now that Shiloh is finally napping, I will go out and do the evening milking and after that we'll do evening school! David has a meeting tonight and won't be home until late. It's as good a time as any to do school, I suppose--at least when you have errands that have to be run during business hours!

Thanks, Elizabeth!

2009-09-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

...for this adorable outfit! :)

My Mom Has Teeth Again!

2009-09-03T19:35:00.000-05:00

4:26 AM

2009-08-30T04:27:00.001-05:00

That's the time as I begin this post. I've been up for over an hour with the beginning of allergy season being somewhat unkind to my nose. Most years, my nose turns into a freely flowing faucet, but this year, a slow drip (maybe because of the probiotics in my goat milk?) but annoying still.

Anyhow, I suppose it's as good a time as any to update with the week's activities. David has been sick sick sick all week. Last night, I could finally understand him without having to read his lips, but he's still far from well. The kids and I got sick, too, but David had it the worst. I think Shiloh is getting it again.

We've just been truckin' along with our little homeschool. Samuel and Shiphrah are getting excited about reading. Yippee!!! Just a few weeks ago, when Samuel would see the puzzle letters sheets (fit the letters together like pieces in a puzzle to blend the sounds...) he would say, "Oh no, not reading! That's hard!" Not anymore! He looks forward to those worksheets and zips through them with a smile on his face!

With all the illness, I got a lesson behind in math & Bible, but can make that up next week. We need to be more diligent about our music, too. The kids missed lessons yesterday for a variety of reasons. (Mom got home late from running errands, kids hadn't showered, just one of those days.)

I met some really nice goat folks yesterday, and they were a huge huge help to me! I was able to buy some goat supplies from them and learn how to administer the copper bolus to my goats. I'm still not certain I did it right, so we'll see... I can tell there is a copper deficiency because the hooves had been getting too soft, my little black doeling is fading to red on her hind legs, and my bucks are missing little patches of hair at their hips. One of my bucks is fading pretty badly, too. (hair color) Hopefully I did the boluses correctly. I should see some results in about a month if I did.

I finally got my herd share contract this week from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Man, what a bunch of legalese! I really hate that we have to jump through so many hoops in order to maintain our freedom in this country! I have to fine-tooth-comb the contract and get back to the attorney with questions and/or revisions. It would be so much easier to not do this the right way. You know us, though. Every "i" dotted, and every "t" crossed.

We also finally got our goat transportation from Idaho worked out. They'll be arriving mid-September now. We have a few little things to work out so that we can quarantine them upon arrival. They need an appropriate adjustment period for integrating them in the herd, and they may have some stress-related things to deal with from the move. So, those details are my next project.

It's time for me to go milk the goats now and get started with the day. Happy Lord's Day!

Ten Feet

2009-08-22T08:12:00.001-05:00

That's how long this table is, with all the leave inserted. Plenty of room for everyone at Thanksgiving! It was delivered late last night, and we love it! Samuel even gave it a kiss! David and I have wanted a big, mission style, oak table ever since before we got married. We were blessed to have the table he grew up with, followed by a stylish dining set given to us by friends when we outgrew our first table. This one is our dream, and the 3rd piece of new furniture we've bought in our nearly 10 years of marriage. (unless you count the put-it-together-yourself stuff in our library) Hopefully, we won't have to wait another 10 years to get the chairs. :) I don't have any photos of those, but they're all wood, and so beautifully made, they're even more comfortable than our cushioned chairs! Always good to have something to dream about. :)

Peppers and cheese!

2009-08-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

We've been blessed with produce this summer. Even though we didn't grow a garden, we've had gifts of garden veggies from various friends nearly every week. I think I've bought vegetables in the grocery store only once this summer! We received so many cayenne and jalapeno peppers lately, that I've strung them up and am attempting to dry them... My intent is to cut them off the string and grind them up in the coffee grinder when I need hot spices for something.

In other news... We joined the Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund after a local farmer was visited by agents from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture... They informed her that selling raw milk was just like selling meth, under state law! We want to have a herd share contract in place that will stand up in any court should the state ever decide to come here and check us out. In the mean time, I have surplus milk that I cannot legally sell or even give away. Crazy, huh? So today I tried my hand at making cheese--Queso Blanco because it is the easiest kind to make, and I needed something that could be done while Shiloh was napping!

Speaking of Shiloh, she's starting to wake up. I'm thankful that she slept long enough for not only the cheesemaking, but also for me to get a couple weeks' worth of ironing done! Time to cuddle the baby and start phonics with the big kids!

Ready for church!

2009-08-16T07:37:00.000-05:00

Chicken hatching

2009-08-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

Myrtle

2009-08-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

Many of you who read this blog are not "Goat People" so when I said I was getting some Alpine Dairy Goats, that didn't mean much. Let me share a photo with you:
This is Myrtle. Tracy sent me a photo of this beautiful doe (milked out) the other day. Isn't she stunning?! I can't wait to see her in person!

Chickies!

2009-08-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Because we had a surplus of eggs about 3 weeks ago, we incubated some eggs. They are hatching now! And now, we are running short on eggs, and these chicks can't grow up fast enough! Anyhow, we have 12 chicks hatched so far, and one more is currently pecking away at its shell. We could have hatchlings for the next 3 or 4 days.

We also got 15 Rhode Island Red pullets from the Farmer's Co-Op yesterday. Next week, they are supposed to have some Welsummers in, and we hope to get some of those, too. Welsummers lay those chocolate colored eggs that I've been coveting!

Our kids really enjoy the chicks and watching them hatch. Solomon got a little carried away with one yesterday--he pretended it was Superman. That was fine, until he sent it flying through the air. FYI: day old chicks don't fly. May SuperChickie rest in peace. Samuel and Shiphrah had to camp out next to their babies last night:

Weekly Brag

2009-08-12T12:52:00.000-05:00

Another week has rolled around and I have more photos to share. The kids probably haven't changed much since last week, but I enjoy taking their pictures nonetheless. :)
Shiphrah and her "daughter"--a bunny that sings "Jesus Loves Me" if you squeeze it in the middle!

I found Solomon a sweater vest that will go with this outfit so he can better match Samuel. :)

Vicki Graham gave us this adorable outfit when Shiphrah was a baby. So fun to get to use it again!

This week has been pretty busy. We decided to buy some really nice Alpine dairy goats from a farm in Idaho. We had been waiting to see if we could get transportation before deciding to buy them. We got transportation, decided to get them, and then the transportation fell through! Probably just as well that it did, because I'm not certain it was the best transportation situation, but now we've fallen in love with these goats (crazy long distance relationship!) and MUST find a way to get them here! There are some photos of some of them on our farm website. If only we had a truck. Or a motorhome. Or a vehicle capable of pulling a tailer! We may have to rig a U-haul and caravan home! There may be a couple of other transportation options, but if neither of them pan out, we'll be makeing quite the road trip in October during David's Fall Break!

That's the major news here--or what I can remember of it. I'm running on a serious lack of sleep! Our children's story bible books (3 volume set) arrived today, and our table should be arriving soon.

Shiphrah lost another tooth!

2009-08-08T16:56:00.000-05:00

Shiphrah lost another tooth! She really doesn't know where it went! Both Samuel and she really did lose their second lost tooth! Samuel already had adult teeth growing in before his baby teeth fell out. Shiphrah has a gaping hole and it's so cute! :)

Nest Boxes!

2009-08-04T06:59:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep our hens from eating their eggs, and to keep the eggs cleaner, David ordered some snazzy nest boxes with roll out bottoms. They arrived yesterday, and he spent the evening assembling them with another new toy: a pop rivet gun. Those pop rivets are pretty cool! Nevermind the scroungy grill cover in these photos. Pretend the weeds you see are shrubs. They're almost large enough. Anyhow! David's next project will be putting this beauty up in the barn!

Fishy Dress

2009-08-04T06:57:00.001-05:00

We're so thankful for all the gifts of clothes we've recieved for Shiloh! We already had so many things left over from Shiphrah, but new dresses sure are fun!

Shiloh learning to play

2009-08-04T06:55:00.001-05:00

Makeshift Clothesline

2009-08-04T06:51:00.000-05:00

This is that clothesline I mentioned in my last post. Because I had mentioned last summer that I want to get a clothesline so I don't have to run the dryer in the heat, my mom went out and bought line and clothespins. I don't have T posts up for the line to be strung upon (can't figure out where I want it!) so I ran the line across our deck! Temporarily, of course. It got the job done.