Quitters?

Last week my adventurous husband came home to hand me some bad news, or so he thought! He got all serious on me and proceeded to say, "Now, honey, don't be mad at me ,but . . . ". In our short 10 years of marriage, that is usually code for "I'm about to buy something that you probably won't like!" But this time he was actually wanting to SELL something! The goats!! Every last one of them! To his surprise, I put my hand in the air to give him a high five and replied, "they're gone, Baby!" Oh how fickle we are! You see, the very same day, I was driving home and thinking how I wished we could sell all the goats and be done with them! I don't even like goat's milk-or, at least I won't even try it to see if I like it! And who wants to have labor intensive animals that hinder your vacation time? Not us! We like to get in the car and go where we please with no prior preparation. No planning. Just a last minute get away when we feel like it. But we can't. We have goats. And chickens. And a dog. . .


So, we listed all the goats on craigslist and started fielding calls and emails about our small but binding herd. And then it hit me. Well, it took a few days and few flickers before the light bulb moment happened, but it did eventually happen. You see, I have been formulating a post in my head about my own disappointment over my habit of starting things and not finishing them. I start books, but never finish them. I have a box of sewing that is labeled "Started Projects". I started to loose weight, but didn't finish. I go through seasons of healthy eating, but never make it a life-long habit. I love the excitement over starting something new. I have tried to keep a chore chart and do use it at very random intervals. But it is not a habit.


I don't want to quit just because it isn't fun anymore. I don't our kids to see us give up when things get tough. And milking these goats is tough business! Especially when you can't go out of town or have to be home by dark to feed and care for animals. Even the everyday milking process is no fun with our kicky milkers. But we don't want to quit. So, we (really me, but Farmer Husband has been cheering from the sidelines!) have decided to press forward with this whole farming venue and get used to milking the goats everyday. We haven't been milking them at all. It's no fun. It's hard work. It's frustrating and even painful at times! But I know they can get used to it and so can we, if we make it a habit.

Today marks 7 days in a row of milking for us. That is a record worth mentioning over here, because CR, Little E and I are getting abused on the milking stand! We used to milk them at night when Robbie was home to help me, but have decided to start doing it in the mornings without him. Poor CR is my goat handler who tries to talk sweet and rub on the goats while I try to milk with one hand and hold a leg with the other! It takes us a long time and it's not enjoyable, but we are doing it! And today was the first day that we were able to see the fruits of our labor!! The goats begrudgingly gave us 1.5 quarts of milk this morning. We should be getting more, but we are still sharing with the babies, so in time, we hope to get about a gallon a day! One day soon . . . but for now we are thrilled to have this much!


And in the meantime, we are talking to our kids about responsibilities and how even Mom and Dad want to quit when we don't like something! We still might give up on the dream of being goat farmers, but we aren't going to today! Maybe when the next vacation time comes around! By then we will probably be giving them away!

Officially Redneck!

The day has come to declare this family "officially redneck!" Oh, how I hope it isn't true! I hope we haven't lost all dignity out here in the country, but the kids are having such fun! We promise not to put a refrigerator on the front porch!!

Spring break was last week for us and since we couldn't find anyone to adopt our animals for the week, we had to stay at the little house. The weather was gorgeous and this water lovin' family (or at least this water lovin' wife!) was just itching to get in some water! So, we talked Farmer Husband into buying us pool - actually, an above ground pool. Now, we didn't go all crazy and put a deck around it or anything and we didn't get one too large, but it is definitely an above ground pool. What a hideous site, but such a fun time for the kids! They love and don't know that it really isn't cool! They actually tell people they have a pool! Oh what retraining we must do when we become civilized again!

Kids are holding their ears while Daddy killed the below mentioned snake!

Updates from the farm

Farm life is in full swing over here in the"Little House". As you can tell by my sporatic postings, we are thoroughly enjoying this warm weather and taking advantage of the outdoors every chance we get! So many of you have asked how our farm animals are doing, so this post is dedicated just to the animals!

CHICKENS:
For starters, the baby chicks are not so small anymore! After our first group of 20 chicks, we purchased another group of 17 2 weeks later! As the chicks grew quickly, Robbie had to build a new brooder to house them all. We just put the first 20 outside in the big chicken coop and hopefully the next group will be ready in a week or two!

Our 4 hens have turned into 2. We have always only had 2 hens that laid eggs for us and now those are the 2 hens that are gone. We think they left to go build a nest and try to hatch out eggs (which would be impossible since we don't have a rooster but I guess they don't know that!). We have looked for a nest unsuccessfully and assume that they are never coming back. Robbie says he is going to butcher the other 2 soon since they won't lay, but I'm not sure I want any part of plucking feathers and cutting a live dead bird. That might be a little much for this novice farm girl!

Here are CR and CH holding our useless birds that they now think are their pets!

Goat Life: Mira's babies are growing quickly and growing on us! The worst part of baby goats for me was the day I had to take them to get their horns disbudded - oh, what an aweful smell it was I cringe even now to think about the process of burning off their little buds. But, they were fine as soon as we left and I know they will be better for it. I think we will probably keep the baby girl now and Mira may be the one to get the boot! She is a fiesty and kicky milker; therefore, we have only milked her a handful of times. It's time to work with her though, so we are committed to taking this week and milking her everyday (I think!).

Betty had her babies this morning!! CR went to the barn around 8:00 to let them out and came back in the house to tell us he saw 2 babies in the barn! We quickly ran out the door to check on them and from the looks of it, she had just delivered them. One goat was still soaking wet from the delivery and Betty was in the process of cleaning off the other one. Both babies are girls and have the same funny ears that Betty has!

BUD: Bud is no longer a bull calf but is sadly now a steer. The good news is he is now roaming free in the pasture with all the other cows, so maybe he will think the pain was worth it?!!! The kids love to get on the 4-wheelers and go find him to see how he is. Can you believe I actually want us to get some more baby calves to raise?!! CR has loved it, and the others too!

CHIEF: Chief, the dog, has found a special place in the kids' hearts. He is super gentle with them, hence the reason they always try to ride him. He is also very protective over our yard and the street for that matter! I'm not so sure that he is serving his purpose of guarding the goats and chickens, since we won't let him in the field with them b/c he chases them, but he does keep animals and people away!

CRITTERS:

Thankfully we have only found a couple dead mice in the basement through the winter and not much else to write about. But, spring is here and all the little critters are just beginning to show their ugly faces. We have had numerous ticks to pull already and wasp and flies galour! Today the kids were outside playing and I could hear them yelling from inside the house. I stepped out to see what was going on and they were all screaming "SNAKE, SNAKE!". Now, you country folk are probably used to nasty snakes, but us city people don't like to even look at one! I ran in to get the Boss Man kindly asked him to use my (though I have never shot it!) pistol to get rid of it! Daddy came to the rescue and killed that sucker with one shot! I think he had so much fun he wanted another one to shoot!

Kids are Here!

Sunday morning Robbie brought the goats up to the pasture before we left for church. He said, "Mira is going to have her babies today or tonight." I thought it was going to be last week, but Robbie called it and when we returned home from church there were 2 baby goats in the field. Our trusty neighbors stopped by to tell us that they watched Mira deliver and made sure eveything was okay. She gave birth to one boy and one girl. I don't think we will keep either of them; so, hopefully both of these kids will be sold in about 6 weeks! Now, Ugly Betty is looking bigger every day and looks like she is about a week or 2 away from delivery! Things are definitely getting interesting around here!

Baby Girl

Baby Boy

CH trying her hand at milking!

Baby Chicks are Here!

Today we picked up our order for 20 baby chicks. We have really debated over whether or not we wanted to raise week old chicks or just buy the pullets at 3-4 months after someone else has done all the hard leg work! They are so much cheaper to buy young, that we decided to give it a shot. So here we go! These chicks are all females and are supposed to be hard core egg layers, but won't start laying until mid summer. It was a hard decision to put off the gratification of having eggs NOW, but I think we will be glad we in the long run!

My Little Cowboy!

CR is my child who has loved this country life the best of all. When our neighbors gave us 2 calves, one for the boys and one for the girls, the boys' calf died. CR didn't mind, he just took over the girls calf and made it his responsibility to feed, water and care for Bud. He loves that cow and every other animal out here on the farm. God has given him a very tender heart and I love to watch how takes care of all the animals. He could watch them all day and is always the first to volunteer to help Mom or Dad with farm chores. I love to see his eyes come to life when he tells friends and strangers alike about farm life! He proudly proclaims to anyone who will listen that he is a real farmer, hunter and cowboy!

CR watching neighbors unload hay

CR playing with goats

CR loving on Chief!

Spring is in the air . . .

and I am so thankful! As selfish as it sounds, I think my God knew I desperately needed this warm spell to renew me and to remind me that I really do enjoy life on this country farm! What a relief it was to walk outside for morning chores wearing shortsleeves when just a few days ago we were in the teens! We spent the whole weekend outside loving life again! Mom came up for a visit and experienced her first time to drive a 4-wheeler! She loved it, as was evident by her constant screams going up and over hills!

We rode to one of the creeks and the kids splashed around in the cold water like it was summer!









And, finally, we added to our herd of goats! What started out as a need for goat milk has turned into . . . I'm not sure yet what it has turned into. But, this is Mirage - we are calling her Mira for short since I don't like her name! She is due to kid in a week or two, which means milk will come soon and lots of work to be done now! If you haven't noticed yet, Robbie and I are both impulsive, sper of the moment kind of people. I'm just thankful we are both that way, otherwise we would drive each other CRAZY! But, since we are both so much alike, we just laugh and have fun in the midst of the craziness!

Ugly Betty

Baby W is in need of a little extra milk these days. Mommy's milk is steady but not sufficient; hence, the reason for Ugly Betty! Ugly Betty is a pregnant Nubian who is due to kid in March as best we can tell. Now, obviously, we can't tell because we are ignorant to the whole goat world, but we have been told she should kid in March, maybe April. I like the spotted Nubians and think Ugly Betty might be a Pretty Betty one day, but right now she is malnourished and sickly looking. Leave it to us to get a sick goat!! She really isn't sick, but wasn't fed regularly where she came from so we kind of rescured her. She sure isn't as cute as our little girls, but maybe with a little TLC she can put on some weight and grow a healthy coat to make her look a little better!

As we were driving to pick her up yesterday, I looked at Robbie and said, "You know we aren't normal, don't you?". He agreed but at least we are both up for a little, or a lot, of adventure and enjoy doing it together! To let you know just how crazy we are here is a small window into our world.

Monday, Robbie traveled out of town to pick up some wholesale items for our "side" business. This tiny house now has boxes of "stuff" everywhere! On his way back, he stopped by a mini farm and picked up 40 blueberry bushes! Where are we going to plant them? I'm sure trusting God to have us a place of our own where the bushes and us can plant some roots!!

We currently have 4 chickens, 3 goats, 7 cows and 1 dog. We are suppoded to get a buckling (baby boy goat) from the same people we bought the girls from. He should be born in March or April, if 1 of the 2 pregnant goats have a boy. We are also supposed to get another mama goat in milk this spring. She is supposed to kid in March and be ready by April. Saturday, we are picking up 20 week old chicks to raise in a brooder and we are contemplating buying a Jersey heifer calf to raise until breeding age and then sell her. Think we are crazy yet?

Newest Member on the Farm

Once we got our baby goats home and nestled in their new environment, we began to really fall in love with them! Sounds crazy, I know, but we can often be heard saying things like, "come here baby girl" or "mama's here". Even Robbie loves these little girls! We are in the process of planning for their pasture and really want to make sure these girls are protected. We have some mean dogs beside us and coyotes in the woods and so forth, so we decided that we needed a good watch dog to help keep them safe. Yeah - I know - I just told CH she couldn't have a dog for her birthday because it would not "pull it's own weight" so to speak. Well, that has changed a bit since we need one now to protect our babies!


Everything we have read says that the Great Pyrenees breed is perfect for watching over goat's. We started looking for one but were unsure if we wanted a puppy or an adult dog - pros and cons for both. So, we found a free full bred Great Pyrenees on Craigslist that needed a good home. We decided to go look at him and see if we was gentle and good with the kids or if he would take us for strangers and not come to us. Well, he's here with us now - on a trial run period. He seems to be very sweet and gentle and follows us around wherever we go. He doesn't bother the chickens and was excited to meet the goat's. He barks at the neighbor's bad dogs!! The only problem so far is that the cows don't like him. They charged after him yesterday in the pasture and gave me and the dog a huge scare. I don't think he will be going around them anytime soon!


He's really a likable dog, but we don't want to get attached to him yet, just in case we have to give him the boot. Only time will tell! Here he is - Chief - since he is in charge of the troops when we are not outside!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow . . . Let it Go!!

I am a Floridian wanna-be at heart, so I don't get too excited over snow, except for the fact that it usually means my hubby gets a day off work (and now my girls too!). I can pretend to enjoy the white stuff for a day, but not much longer! I just can't understand why people enjoy being so cold and miserable! But, I do try to fake it for the kids and drag out all their layers upon layers of clothing and sleds and boots and make up a big batch of hot chocolate (except for Little E - he now requests "Warm Chocolate" instead!) Thankfully, Baby W made for a good excuse for me to stay inside and keep fresh dry clothes going in the dryer while Farmer Husband played with the kids and worked on the chicken castle! I played a bit when we went across the street to sled at the school, but retreated to the warm Suburban with the heat on high and my seat warmer toasting my numb buns! All the while, I was envisioning myself laying on the white sandy beaches soaking up the warm Florida sun! I miss the beach!!


Things are thawing out today and the snow is almost gone, thankfully!! Do you know how miserable it is to do farm chores in the ice and snow? I don't either because Farmer Husband was home to do them for me!!! I didn't see the goats at all from Thursday afternoon till Monday afternoon! Don't worry! We were able to get acquainted again rather quickly today when I had to check Sparkles for fever. Yep! I had to use a good ole faithful rectal thermometer! She sounds like she has the sniffles and Farmer Husband suggested I take her temp just in case she was getting pneumonia. No worries yet, her temp was a healthy 101.8 and normal is 102 - just in case you wanted to know!

Chicken Coop for a Queen!

When Robbie and I married he was living in a 2 car garage that he had converted into an efficiency apartment. That's the nice way of putting it! The garage was part of a 4-plex. He renovated an old building and made it into 3 apartments and rented those out to Bubba, Bubba and Larry! We lived in the "nice" apartment!! Since then, the only thing I can remember Robbie building has been a dog house in our first year of marriage. He has painted endlessly through all of our houses and tiled just about as much, but no building projects until now!


I tried to encourage him to buy a new shed from Lowe's that was on clearance so that he wouldn't waste all of his time building something. Something in his ego was wounded by that suggestion which made him all the more determined to build something special for our small flock of chickens! I have to admitt that I have loved seeing him so happy building something with his hands! He has enjoyed every minute of it, even while working in freezing temperatures, freezing rain, snow and ice! By the looks of the inside, we are officially ready for more chickens to move in!

We've Gone Country!

CH's 7th birthday is this week and she has been begging for a pet - any pet really. Her preference was for a horse, but that ain't happening anytime soon, so she asked for a dog. Negative. A ferret? No way! A rabbit? No. How about a goldfish? We could do that, but what about a pet that provides something for the family and one that you could use to start your own business and make a little money?!! Now we were talking her language! So we began again, with me giving suggestions this time. How about a chicken? No. A baby chick? Oh yeah! You know a chick turns into a chicken, right? Never mind, I don't want that. What about a baby goat? Yes!!! So, a goat it was! We have high hopes of using the goat's milk to make soap and cheese - it should be an adventure!

On Monday we traveled to a farm a little ways away to pick up CH's 6 week old Nubian goat! She is so excited!! And Mom and Dad were pretty excited too, since we have talked 2 kids into getting farm animals for their birthday to help us start our mini farm! Since goat's are social animals, we decided to get 2 babies instead of one and while we were there, we might as well pick out a few chickens to get us started with some eggs! Our 4 chickens are black and white Bard Rocks and we hope to add to the flock soon!

The Black one is CH's. She has named her Sprinkles, we think! The other is for the whole family and is currently being called Cinnamon.

The four chickens!

No, we don't know what we are doing - reading a book can only help you so much! I haven't read anything that told me the secret to capturing a loose goat. Yesterday I had to chase the 2 little kids for about an hour before I finally outsmarted them! (They escaped from the barn!) Nor have I read how to properly warm the goat's formula and get it to the barn while it is still warm - not too hot or too cold for these very picky eaters! Or how to get them to drink out of their own pail so that I can better gauge how much each is drinking. These things require a little hands-on learning which is what we love! I just pray these new animals fair far better than our bees, we lost both hives, and our poor lost Sonny!


In addition to farm animals, we are on the look out for a good dog to help keep the goat's and chickens safe from predators. Robbie has to work on a good fence this weekend to keep the goat's in a pasture and will be making or buying a smaller shed/outbuilding to house the goats and chickens at night. (We bought a temporary one on Craigslist.) So far we are having fun, but I know all these animals require a lot of long term work. This is something we have wanted to do for a while though, so I am so happy we finally took the plunge to the country life! We aren't tempted in the least to return to city life (though I could be tempted by the houses!!)!

Little E found our first egg!! Too bad he is allergic to them :(