Thankfulness.....

Tuesday, April 2nd

Wednesday, April 3rd

Thursday, April 4th 

Friday, April 5th

Saturday, April 6th

Sunday, April 7th
250) Sacred Dancers at church were great


Tuesday, April 9th
251) We were able to get the stray dog before a car hit it
252) We found the stray dog's owner

Wednesday, April 10th


Thursday, April 11th
253) The tractor started and we were able to help a neighbor

Friday, April 12th
254) Even though we have a winter weather watch, Spring is almost here

Saturday, April 13th
255) Today is Saturday

Sunday, April 14th

Monday, April 15th

Tuesday, April 16th
256) Church pictures went well, photographer went above and beyond

Wednesday, April 17th
257) Farrier was able to trim the goats' feet too
258) Beautiful spring weather

Thursday, April 18th

Friday, April 19th
259) Beautiful day, windy but warm
260) Goats

Looks like I haven't been very thankful lately doesn't it?  I have, I just don't stop to write it down.  I am thankful in all things.  I need to slow down and be purposely thankful.  Write it down.  Make it real.

Thankfulness.....

Sunday, March 3rd
222) It is Sunday evening
223) The whole family together in the living room

Monday, March 4th
224) Quiet time with my computer

Tuesday, March 5th
225) The weather report - warmer weather is on its way

Wednesday, March 6th
226) The sound of water dripping
227) The mud that the dripping water is making
228) It's 42 degrees
229) Spring is surely right around the corner
230) Chores are done and the kitchen is closed

Thursday, March 7th
231) Middle son turned 12 and Middle daughter turned 13 today
232) Dinner was a success - new recipe
233) Presents were a hit

Friday, March 8th
234) Cats who double as an alarm clock

Saturday, March 9th
235) It is Saturday
236) Weather looks promising
237) People who are willing to deliver hay
238) Beautiful day
239) Was able to put all the goats out including the doelings

Sunday, March 10th
240) Lovely warm day
241) Some of the kids are feeling better
242) It seems to be a 72 hour bug for the most part

Monday, March 11th

Tuesday, March 12th

Wednesday, March 13th
243) Most of the kids are better
244) I didn't it as bad as the kids did

Thursday, March 14th
245) 34 years ago my first child, my oldest son was born

Friday, March 15th
246) It's cold but it's sunny

Saturday, March 16th
247) The sound of chick-a-dees in the early morning sun
248) The sounds of goats happily munching hay

Sunday, March 17th

Monday, March 18th

Tuesday, March 19th
249) We did not get as much snow as predicted

Wednesday, March 20th
250) Goat stalls are clean

Thursday, March, 21st
251) Watching oldest daughter's dress rehearsal

Friday, March 22nd
242) Skating show was a success
243) Skating season is over for this year

Saturday, March 23th

Sunday, March 24th

Monday, March 25th

Tuesday, March 26th
244) Spring like weather today
245) We are all healthy

Wednesday, March 27th

Thursday, March 28th

Friday, March 29th
246) It's Friday

Saturday, March 30th

Sunday, March 31st
247) It is Easter - need I say more

Monday, April 1st
248) Had a lovely day with my mother yesterday
249) Great vet check, all animals look good, spring vaccines

The Smile Says It All

Road trip was the theme for the Figure Skating Show this year.  Rachael's group skated to Route 66 and a Mardi Gras theme.  It was a fun night and was the culmination of this skating season.

Rachael has progressed through all the badge testing and will advance to the juniors next year. 

You Know You're A Farmer When....

• You get more excited over a new pair of leather work gloves then you do new shoes
• Tractor Supply is your favorite store
• You are on a first name basis with the folks at the feed store
• You notice an egg truck pulling into the parking lot as you drive pass the grocery store.  You point it out, and your youngest son can not understand why they would need to take eggs to the grocery store.  You try to explain that some people buy their eggs at the grocery store.  He just shakes his head in disbelief. In his world eggs come from chickens, the ones in your own back yard. 
• You are waiting for your cow to calve....at church a young friend comes up and asks if the calf had been born yet.  Your middle daughter says no, but we have mucus.  The friend nods and understands - she's a farmer's kid too.
• You sprain your hand and think - well at least it's not my best milking hand - got this one from a friend
• The power goes out and you worry most about the new kids in the barn being without their heat lamp
• When the snow storm hits your first thought is, thank goodness we got hay yesterday
• You pull your cell phone out and it's full of hay, and you're not in the barn
• You think to yourself goat manure is a lot nicer than cow manure, but horse is really the best
• Your kids say, well everybody's manure looks healthy - got this from a friend
• You say to your kids - as you are on the way to the car, don't step in the chicken manure with your church shoes on.
•  

Two Golds And A Bronze

The Smile Says It All!

Rachael participated in a figure skating competition tonight.  She was in 3 events. The high point for her was winning a gold medal for the solo routine she had worked on all year. 

Skating lessons, 2 nights a week rushing supper and then sitting in a cold arena, a private coach. Her smile was worth it all.

And When The Power Went Out

Last night the power went out just as I was starting to cook supper.  Thankfully the chores were all done and all the goats and kids were tucked in for the night.  We did worry about the new goat kids because no power means no heat lamp.  The power was off for 3 hours and they were fine.  I was very thankful that the weather was in the low 30s and not sub-zero like it has been for so much of this month.

I finished cooking supper, thankfully we have a gas stove.  We ate supper by candle light and just put the dirty dishes in the sink to deal with later.  After supper we all sat around the living room listening to Richard recite a story. He went on for probably 10 minutes - he has such a great memory and can "do" voices and accents very well.  After that we had a spelling bee.  Just as we were beginning to wind down, the power came back on. 

It was a lovely family evening.

Twins!!!!

Muffet presented us with two beautiful doelings about 6:30 this morning.  I heard her on the baby monitor and ran out to check.  I discovered she was indeed in labor and ran back to the house for my birthing kit and to wake Rhiannon and Brad.

She gave birth to a cream colored kid first (we wouldn't know until a bit later whether "it" was a buckling or doeling) and immediately started cleaning it.

About 10 minutes later and just after she had gotten the first one cleaned up, she had another one, this time all black.

The birth was text book perfect.  Muffet seemed glad I was there with her, letting me help her clean the babies, pick them up and dip their navels.  She even tried to help Brad when I asked him to put up a couple more boards between her stall and her neighbor's stall.

Rhiannon helped by fetching things and dipping the navels while I held the kids.  She was also the official photographer for the birth.

Both doelings have nursed twice and Muffet has passed the afterbirth.  I was able to milk a little over a pint from Muffet.  She wanted no part of the milking stand, we'll work on that later.  But she stood very nicely in her stall eating her grain while I milked her, no kicking or laying down.  I brought the colostrum back to the house to warm it up a bit and tried to bottle feed the doelings. It didn't seem like they nursed much and I wanted to be sure they had gotten enough colostrum, but they wanted no part of the bottle.  They did both nurse on Muffet again though.

The doelings were under their heat lamp and Muffet was laying right next to them when I left the barn around 10:00am.

The End Of An Era

The "Black Bag".......is no more.  Years ago when my oldest girls outgrew the need for a diaper bag, we graduated to a Baby Boom bag.  I have carried this bag for the past 11 years - it was stuffed with kid "stuff".  At varying times it might have held; a spare outfit for the youngest, busy toys, tissues, baby wipes, snacks....you know the type of stuff you need when you are out and about with the kids.

Friday night we came home to the contents of the "black bag" (sometimes called the mommy bag) strewn all over the hallway of our house.  Our beagle (you remember the one who ate a whole bag of chocolate chips a month or so ago) had gotten into it for reasons only he knows (there was no food in it). Not only did he dump the stuff from the outside pockets, he chewed a hole in the top of it.

So I have now graduated from the mommy bag to a rather nice leather purse - it's a big one so I can still fit "kid stuff" in it as well as my own. It was time, but I will miss the "black bag" and the need for it. 

Sprocket hates being crated so much, and he had been doing so well, that we tried to be nice and let have the run of the house.  He will now be crated whenever we leave him alone, for his safety and our peace of mind.

Thankfulness.....

Sunday, Feburary 17th
188) Cold water
189) Take out pizza

Monday, February 18th
190) Doing math with middle son

Tuesday, February 19th
191) Trip to the feed store with the 3 youngest

Wednesday, February 20th
192) Made it home after driving through a white-out
193) All the does test results were negative

Thursday, February 21th
194) Watching old episodes of Family Affair with the kids

Friday, February 22nd
195) It's 22 above zero

Saturday, Februrary 23rd
196) Mornings

Sunday, February 24th

Monday, Februray 25th
197) A full nights uninterrupted sleep
198) Running drinking water - many do not have even that
199) I can home educate our kids

Tuesday, February 26th
200) The pink sky of sunrise
201) Good friends who let you borrow their truck and then help get the hay
202) The hay barn is full again
203) Walking in from the barn and seeing the sunset

Wednesday, February 27th
204) Birthday shopping on Amazon - I found something I didn't think I would
205) Twin doelings
206) Power outage
207) Dinner by candle light
208) Listening to youngest son recite
209) Spelling bee
210) The power came back on
211) The doelings were ok for 3 hours without a heat lamp
212) The doelings were not born during the subzero weather

Thursday, February 28th
213) Early morning hours
214) Getting a jump start on the day
215) Being the first one up

Friday, March 1st
216) Its March 1st
217) Spring is only 19 days awa
218) Skating competition went very well
219) Oldest daughter's smile when she got the 2 golds and a bronze

Saturday, March 2nd
220) Middle son loves Robotics
221) Gospel Choir concert

Wordless Wednesday - Thinking Of Summer

Thankfulness.....

Monday, February 11th
173) Reading my bible
174) 40 degree weather after sub-zero weather
175) Husband who can fix anything

Tuesday, February 12th
176) The wind
177) Eating all our meals as a family
178) Ice

Wednesday, February 13th


Thursday, February 14th
179) Home made valentines
180) Chocolate heart shaped brownies


Friday, February 15th

181)Lap dog lap warmers

Saturday, February 16th
182) Milk buckets
183) Cheese cloth
184) Middle son who vacuums the kitchen
185) Clean bathrooms
186) Freshly folded laundry
187) Soap

It seems I've missed a few days and a few (many) opportunities to be thankful.  I've been busy.  But how can I be too busy to be thankful.  How can I not see, I need only to look.  We have so much.  So much to be thankful for.  Sometimes things seem too common place, too, well weird to write down.  Like tissues and toilet paper.  I am thankful for these things, and many other things that sometimes seem too mundane to write.

Fortunately they don't go far

Last Friday morning, just as the blizzard was starting, I headed for the barn.  I noticed some rather large foot prints going around the yard.  Self, I said, those are not cat foot prints, they look almost like people prints.  Hmmmm, well no matter, maybe they were left over from yesterday, but, well, there was no snow yesterday.  I continued on to the barn, making note that Reed's gate was shut - so it couldn't be him.

I began feeding the goats and happened to look out the window and WHOA, there was Reed (Rhiannon's horse) right there standing up against the barn, and from the looks of him he had been there awhile.  I went out the back door and opened his gate.  He walked right in and went into his shelter. I brushed the snow off and gave him a little oats and corn.

Tonight, I went out to check on Muffet, my pregnant doe and Louie greeted me at the door, tail wagging like a propeller.  He had managed to squeeze out of his stall.  He is quite small and can fit through spaces that the does can not. He seemed quite proud of himself from the look on his face.  Brad fixed his stall, so hopefully he won't get out again.

 There is never a dull moment.....

Thankfulness.....

Saturday, February 2nd
144) Snow
145) Fresh warm milk, straight from the cow
146) Robotics
147) Local food
148) Eggs
149) Fresh towels

Sunday, February 3rd
150) Husband who is building more goat stalls for me
152) Sunday School
153) Going to be getting 2 new goats


Monday, February 4th
154) Going to the bulk food store
155) Nice visit with my mother

Tuesday, February 5th
156) Sunshine on a frigid morning
157) Sun shining in my kitchen window - warm

Wednesday, February 6th
159) 2 new goats
160) The trip with the goats was uneventful

Thursday, February 7th
161) Wood for the fire
162) Little dog curled up in my chair
163) Vet who came when we called

Friday, February 8th
164) Dog patiently waiting to get back on the hearth
165) Cat curled up in my chair
166) Aprons
167) The smell of baking bread

Saturday, February 9th
168) Snow shovels
169) Friends who stop by unexpectedly and plow the driveway
170) Sun shining off the beauty of the snow

Sunday, February 10th
171) The smell of coffee cake baking
172) Warm day
173) Family

New Additions To The Farm

It's been a wild week here at Long Meadow Farm.

Brad spent Sunday night and Tuesday night frantically building new stalls so we could bring home 2 new goats.  A job well done!

Three new stalls

Kid Warmer

Louie and Miss Muffet

Going for a ride

Lil Miss Muffet, and Jazzman Louie arrived Wednesday. Miss Muffet is Lil Bo Peep's daughter, Bo Peep is the first goat we bought.

Both goats are registered Lamanchas. Hopefully Louie will grow a little more and can be our herd sire.  Muffet is very very pregnant, due to kid soon. 

Rhiannon and I drove to Malone to meet Hallie - their previous owner. Yes, they are in the mini-van. Brad has become quite good at rigging up the van so I can transport my goats.

Checking out his new stall

Could I get some room service please?

Chloe was VERY interested in the new arrivals.  Bo Peep was her usual composed self.

Chloe - Helloooo what have we here?

If I could just stretch my neck a little more I could almost reach.....

Bo Peep - yes, yes, all very interesting

Wordless Wednesday - Make your own pizza night

Eat Real Food

Thankfulness.....

Saturday, January 26th
122) Popcorn dishes and the remains of movie night with the kids
123) Gravel that marks the path to the barn


Sunday, January 27th
124) Its Sunday
125) Visit with my mother

Monday, January 28th 
126) 20 degrees above zero
127) Soap
128) Magnets
 
Tuesday, January 29th
129) Banana chips
130) Bowls
131) Youngest daughter learning to count

Wednesday, January 30th
132) Its 61 degrees!
133) Goats are outside
134) Windows are open

Thursday, January 31st
135) Milk - I love milk
136) Fresh laundry
137) Eating apples that we sorted and wrapped last fall

Friday, February 1st
138) Old sweatshirts on goats
139) Pajamas
140) Hair snaps
141) Spring is coming in a couple of months
142) Middle son and youngest son writing a story together
143) Friends who listen and understand

Wordless Wednesday

Remembering Summer Fondly

It's been so cold lately, and I've been remembering last summer.  Yes, it was too dry, and it was too hot.  But right now, in this cold snap, this bone chilling am I ever going to be warm again cold snap, I'm longing for summer.

Some of the things I miss:
 

Eating Outside

The Beach

Green Leaves

Chalk Drawings

 
 And most of all.....

Milking Outside

Thankfulness.....

Saturday, January 18th

Sunday, January 19th
101) Sunlight shining through strawberry jam
102) Green construction paper and sticky tap
103) Supper in the crock pot

Monday, January 20th
104) Wood for the woodstove
105) Chill of the house before stoking the fire
106) Morning light
107) We have enough to share
108) Head phones
109) Barn lights
110) Smoke rising from the chimney
111) Calling my mother first thing in the morning

Tuesday, January 21st


Wednesday, January 22nd
112) Books on disc
113) All sitting around the wood stove reading or listening
114) I found sweatshirts for the goats and they fit

Thursday, January 23rd
115) At least we are not battling snow with the frigid weather
116) Goats - love em

Friday, January 23rd
117) Streaks of pink sky - sunrise over the tree tops
118) Warm slippers
119) Hand lotion
120) Chapstick
121) Mornings