Spring

There is no middle ground here.

Just a little over a week ago it was pouring~monsoon season pouring~ and cold and dark and damp.

The last several days the sun has been shining & it has been in the 80's.

From sweaters & boots straight to shorts & flip flops.

No spring. Headlong rush to summer.

Missing the slow, gentle spring in the Basin.

Oh well. ;)

This morning our last doe kidded out.

We went out to do chores & found a big buckling already dried off & yelling.

So we ended up with 2 singles & 1 set of twins. 1 doe & 3 bucks.

Works great for us because we breed our Nubian does to our Boer buck & we butcher the kids.

Now once this doe is done with colostrum & giving good milk we shouldn't have to buy anymore milk.

YAY! That is a wonderful thing!

My only real complaint is that I am never ever ever ever ever ever never never breaking in another first freshener as long as I live.

Somebody else can do that & I will be perfectly content to spend a little extra $$$ on a doe who is already milking & knows that the milking stand is not a torture device, laying down on the milk bucket is not acceptable behaviour &  kicking the milk bucket out of my hand will result in unpleasant conequences.

Never ever ever!

It is such fun to have goat kids playing out in the pasture. I'm hard pressed to think of a cuter animal.

The butcher came & killed the pigs today. He figures they were about 300 & 350 lbs a piece.

Perfecto!

I was obsessing over their weight this morning ( as I always do). Worried that they would be too small & we should have waited. Kill fees & cut & wrap prices have gone up so much that we like to make sure we are getting as much meat as we can for our money & aim for 300 lbs with the hogs.

So I am happy.

We plan to butcher last years goat kids, hopefully this week. We kill & dress them out at home & then take them in to be cut & wrapped. We just don't have a practical place to do it here.

We have 49 meat birds in brooders in the garage. They are almost 3 weeks I think? They will be going outside to free range in  another week or so if the weather holds.

If you stuff them with super high protein feeds you can butcher them at 6-9 weeks but we feed ours not so much protein & let them free range for closer to 12-15 weeks. We also like to butcher them at a bigger size. We aim for an 8-10 lb bird (dressed out) rather than a 4-6 lb bird.

We like 'em big.

I need to find someone to plow our gardens soon. It is time to plant.

I plan on having 2 large areas apart from one another. I am planing on putting sweet corn in one area & popcorn in the other. Along with melons, pumpkins, green beans, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots & bunches of herbs.

I already have spinach & lettuce & a few other things coming up in the raised beds.

All of the trees all of the sudden are leafing out. Everything is fresh & new & green.

It doesn't last long here but it is pretty while it does.

Blessings.

Hospitality

So.

 This morning I was totally ready to rant & rave but had no 'puter access so now I am too tired & sore so I will just share.

So ~ today was AWANA games for our 14 yr old. He has been looking forward to them forever. They were postponed once because of the weather. They were held at a church 2 hrs from us. We got up at 5, did chores in the dark & were on the road by 6. Drove thru really nasty rain & wind to get there. We get there & it is this great big really nice church surrounded by this monster wrought iron fence ~all the gates are locked but ONE ~signs everywhere saying DO NOT ENTER ~not a super friendly facade. We go inside & it is a HUGE beautiful building. They had breakfast going on in a side room & I took my 2 hungry little boys in to see if they would eat something. I walk in the door with my boys & a woman ~who was apparently standing guard~ says “The food is just for the players & the coaches.”

Okay. I just drove 2 hours to get here, y’all have a giant mega-church & you can’t spot 2 little boys a donut?

I was so mad. Hot would be a good description.

 I told my husband what had happened & he offered to go in & get us something but I said no. If they weren’t willing to share then I wasn’t interested. It really wasn’t even about the food. It was about the lack of Christian love. I am a believer, well grounded in the word & part of a fellowship & that church made me feel unwanted, unwelcome, & unloved. How do you think a non-believer would be feeling about that church & Christians in general right now? Not exactly what Jesus had in mind for his people, hey?

I just don’t get it.

Our little church can barely stay solvent & yet if we had hosted the games we would have had food for everybody.  We would have done everything in our power to make sure nobody was hungry~ not players, not coaches, not parents or siblings or grandparents or whoever. We would consider it part of our community outreach. We would consider it joy.

 The Bible clearly states that we are to practice hospitality.

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 1Peter 4:9

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Romans 12 10-13

That church today dropped the ball in a BIG way. They had an opportunity to show the love of Christ.

Instead they showed they cared more for money than hospitality.

 Shame on them.

Blessings.

March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day a day late :).

Yesterday was a super busy day for me & I didn't get the chance to blog. So you're getting this today.

We started with our standard green breakfast. This year we had green scrambled eggs,  green biscuits, green juice, bacon & ham.







We decorated the house & made some crafts.





And we made our now traditional rainbow cake ~ only this year we made cupcakes so we could take them to AWANA & share.



We started a new tradition this year & enjoyed the corned beef & cabbage dinner at the American Legion.

All in all it was a keen green day.

And just in case you forgot~ here is your reminder: The world has taken over St. Patrick's Day & made it into a day celebrating Leprechauns & green beer :(    BUT

The truth is St Patrick was a young English boy who was kidnapped & taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped & returned to his homeland where he chose to dedicate his life to God. Eventually he returned to Ireland to take the Gospel to the very people who had ensalved him as a child.

How awesome a story is that?

Blessings.

Bouquets

In between rain storms my little guys have been picking bunches & bunches of wild flowers.

The only one we have in abundance right now is a sweet yellow flower named "Butter and Eggs"  http://www.123rf.com/photo_2834188_closeup-of-wildflower-butter-and-eggs-triphysaria-eriantha.html

These days I receive my bouquets delicately wrapped in baling twine



Boys you know :)

But the house is certainly the better for them.



Blessings.

Annoyance

I have to admit to being highly annoyed.

I had noticed that I hardly ever got comments on my blog anymore.

Just chalked it up to nobody reading it, ya know?

But would notice sometimes it would say I had a comment but none was there?

I just ended up at a page ~ not sure how~ that had dozens of comments "pending approval'????!!

I hadn't received any notice of them. They were all there just waiting.

Grrrrr.

So, if you have commented in the last however long it's been & wondered why it wasn't there~ blame it on WordPress.

Sigh.

Sorry.

Blessings.

Just how dorky are we?

This dorky:



Blessings.

Around the farm

Just wanted to post a few recent pics from around the farm.

The kids brought this in yesterday



62 oranges. Yum.



The Little Man has been doing this to the dog. He says she is a "Rescue Dog".

The Biscuit carries this book everywhere so we put it in a ziploc bag to stay safe when he is outside.







Our newest addition



Pretty Ladies



Edie & Pea



Bacon, anyone?



Front of the house



Back of the house



That's us for now.

Blessings.