Posts
Jun 28, 2009
Cheese!
Well we sent our first batch of cheese to the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market in Austin. We sold out in about an hour. (Of course it helps that we didn't bring much!) We (well, Tim really, I stayed in Houston) brought "Simply Texan" Plain Chevre, "Texas Summer Heat" spicy chevre and "Texas Two Step" garlic and chive. My favorite is the "summer heat" but the "two step" was neck and neck with the plain as far as being the customer's favorite. This is too much fun, what a great creative outlet.
Jun 27, 2009
True Confessions
Or, "why stop now, while I am hanging out all the dirty laundry"?
Last time I shared my favorite answer to the usually shocked questions about our family size. There are a lot more questions that we get that are more pragmatic in nature and are usually easier to answer (though not as much fun).
Q: How much laundry do you do?
A: Way too much. On a good day somewhere between 4 and 5 loads. This is in the largest available front loading washing machine that can be found outside of a laundromat. On a bad day (bed wetting, tummy tossing, muddy dogs in the bed, potty training, etc) this easily translates to 7-8 loads. The issue is not so much how much laundry do we wash, it is how on earth do we get it put away? The answer is that we don't. In our living room we have two rocker/recliners and a large couch. Which is actually pressed into service as the worlds largest laundry basket, seeing as how we no longer have a playpen that will suffice.
Q: What is your grocery bill like?!
A: Large. This is discouraging to me. As recently as 2004 our monthly food budget was about $350. This covered mom, dad and seven children. I felt pretty good about that number. A few things happened between then and now, though. There was a sharp increase in food prices last year. The same can of soup that I bought previously for ¢.99 is now $1.33. A 1/2 lb package of store brand cream cheese used to be ¢.88 and is now $1.25. These increases add up. A much larger increase is really to blame for the sharp jump in our food budget and that is the increases in the ages of our children. In 2004 our oldest "child" was 16. In a few weeks we will have FOUR children that age or older plus more toddlers. All of this conspires to push our monthly food bill to three times what it was in 2004. That is a huge amount of money to me and I deal with panic in the checkout line at grocery stores. The truth is that in all reality $1000 is likely pretty darn good for 13 people, it is just more than I ever thought I would regularly spend at the grocery store. And that is with getting "free" milk and eggs!
Q: What kind of job does your husband do to provide for everyone?!
A: Well..um...he is a dairy goat farmer.
Q: You must be very patient!
A: I never get to answer this one, no point, my words would be drowned out by the peals of laughter coming from my older children.
Q: What kind of car do you drive? Do you ever go anywhere as a family?
A: We drive a fifteen passenger van so it is easy for us to go places together. In fact we could have two MORE children and still be able to all fit in the van.
Q: You must really love children!
A: Well, I love MY children. I am not one of those truly sainted people who love all the world's children and give their lives in the rescue thereof.
Q: You must be very organized!
A: Well yes, I am. Thank you very much for noticing.
Now, as my family chokes on my words, before they can even raise an eyebrow I had better come clean.
I am NOT organized. I am the epitome of DISorganization. My desk is a shambles, I haven't seen a pair of matched socks other than at Walmart in a very long time. Consistent readers of this blog know why there have been no pictures in quite a while. I routinely lose phone numbers and my "to do" list is eternally lost, save for the recently rediscovered one from 1995. I think it quite possible that God considers me one of His funniest jokes--the woman with ADD to the max responsible for shepherding eleven children through childhood safely into responsible adulthood. To be honest, sometimes the effort taken to get through the day seems insurmountable.
So why do it?
Because this is what I do. I believe that God has called me to this. I know that many who may read this blog do not believe as I do. They may be Christians who have a different perspective of God than I do, they may be agnostics or even atheists who do not believe in God. Regardless, this is what I believe that God would have me do. Some He calls to be doctors in India. (Or Detroit.) Some He calls to be scientists researching cancer cures. Some he calls to be teachers, passing along wisdom and knowledge. Me, He calls to be a dairy farmer and a mom of far more children than any sane woman would consider. I believe that the best way to spend our lives is, to use the cliche, on something that will out last us. How much clearer is this than in raising children? Sometimes I believe that God has called me to this to teach and train ME, His child, to trust Him more. There are times that I think that in some perverse way, seeing me struggle and often fail may encourage others that if I can fall on my face time and time again and still try to get up and still smile, then maybe they can as well. And sometimes, on particularly dark days I think that I may be an encouragement to others because they may say "wow. My boss just fired me, my house burned down, my dog bit me and I just stubbed my toe. But my life is still great compared to having eleven children!" (Hmmm...I think I heard that song on the country station the other day!) At any rate, this is what I feel called to do, to show my trust in God, in His plan and in His provision by turning my life over to him wholly and completely and the biggest way to do this is by giving Him free rein in my body and life. Call it anachronistic, call it absurd, call it misguided. It is my life and I am doing my utmost to live it to the glory of God every single day.
So daily I get up, take a deep breath, pray for peace and strength and walk in the way set before me.
If I could just find my shoes I might get further, though...
Last time I shared my favorite answer to the usually shocked questions about our family size. There are a lot more questions that we get that are more pragmatic in nature and are usually easier to answer (though not as much fun).
Q: How much laundry do you do?
A: Way too much. On a good day somewhere between 4 and 5 loads. This is in the largest available front loading washing machine that can be found outside of a laundromat. On a bad day (bed wetting, tummy tossing, muddy dogs in the bed, potty training, etc) this easily translates to 7-8 loads. The issue is not so much how much laundry do we wash, it is how on earth do we get it put away? The answer is that we don't. In our living room we have two rocker/recliners and a large couch. Which is actually pressed into service as the worlds largest laundry basket, seeing as how we no longer have a playpen that will suffice.
Q: What is your grocery bill like?!
A: Large. This is discouraging to me. As recently as 2004 our monthly food budget was about $350. This covered mom, dad and seven children. I felt pretty good about that number. A few things happened between then and now, though. There was a sharp increase in food prices last year. The same can of soup that I bought previously for ¢.99 is now $1.33. A 1/2 lb package of store brand cream cheese used to be ¢.88 and is now $1.25. These increases add up. A much larger increase is really to blame for the sharp jump in our food budget and that is the increases in the ages of our children. In 2004 our oldest "child" was 16. In a few weeks we will have FOUR children that age or older plus more toddlers. All of this conspires to push our monthly food bill to three times what it was in 2004. That is a huge amount of money to me and I deal with panic in the checkout line at grocery stores. The truth is that in all reality $1000 is likely pretty darn good for 13 people, it is just more than I ever thought I would regularly spend at the grocery store. And that is with getting "free" milk and eggs!
Q: What kind of job does your husband do to provide for everyone?!
A: Well..um...he is a dairy goat farmer.
Q: You must be very patient!
A: I never get to answer this one, no point, my words would be drowned out by the peals of laughter coming from my older children.
Q: What kind of car do you drive? Do you ever go anywhere as a family?
A: We drive a fifteen passenger van so it is easy for us to go places together. In fact we could have two MORE children and still be able to all fit in the van.
Q: You must really love children!
A: Well, I love MY children. I am not one of those truly sainted people who love all the world's children and give their lives in the rescue thereof.
Q: You must be very organized!
A: Well yes, I am. Thank you very much for noticing.
Now, as my family chokes on my words, before they can even raise an eyebrow I had better come clean.
I am NOT organized. I am the epitome of DISorganization. My desk is a shambles, I haven't seen a pair of matched socks other than at Walmart in a very long time. Consistent readers of this blog know why there have been no pictures in quite a while. I routinely lose phone numbers and my "to do" list is eternally lost, save for the recently rediscovered one from 1995. I think it quite possible that God considers me one of His funniest jokes--the woman with ADD to the max responsible for shepherding eleven children through childhood safely into responsible adulthood. To be honest, sometimes the effort taken to get through the day seems insurmountable.
So why do it?
Because this is what I do. I believe that God has called me to this. I know that many who may read this blog do not believe as I do. They may be Christians who have a different perspective of God than I do, they may be agnostics or even atheists who do not believe in God. Regardless, this is what I believe that God would have me do. Some He calls to be doctors in India. (Or Detroit.) Some He calls to be scientists researching cancer cures. Some he calls to be teachers, passing along wisdom and knowledge. Me, He calls to be a dairy farmer and a mom of far more children than any sane woman would consider. I believe that the best way to spend our lives is, to use the cliche, on something that will out last us. How much clearer is this than in raising children? Sometimes I believe that God has called me to this to teach and train ME, His child, to trust Him more. There are times that I think that in some perverse way, seeing me struggle and often fail may encourage others that if I can fall on my face time and time again and still try to get up and still smile, then maybe they can as well. And sometimes, on particularly dark days I think that I may be an encouragement to others because they may say "wow. My boss just fired me, my house burned down, my dog bit me and I just stubbed my toe. But my life is still great compared to having eleven children!" (Hmmm...I think I heard that song on the country station the other day!) At any rate, this is what I feel called to do, to show my trust in God, in His plan and in His provision by turning my life over to him wholly and completely and the biggest way to do this is by giving Him free rein in my body and life. Call it anachronistic, call it absurd, call it misguided. It is my life and I am doing my utmost to live it to the glory of God every single day.
So daily I get up, take a deep breath, pray for peace and strength and walk in the way set before me.
If I could just find my shoes I might get further, though...
Jun 26, 2009
Mother of large family mouths off...
Anyone who has a larger than normal family has become accustomed to curious questions, to people staring when you are in public places and to having people noticeably counting the number of children. They have also come up with a bunch of what they hope are pithy comebacks to the many questions that they get asked. This is usually pretty fun, until the questions become very offensive (which they can). Some examples...
Q:"Are these all yours?"
A:"Let me see (counting)...no, there are only 8 here, I have three more at home." (all mine, all my husbands, no 'yours, mine and ours', all one at a time, no multiples.)
Q:"Are you Catholic/Mormon/Orthodox Jew?"
A:"No, just hopelessly protestant!" (specifically, Presbyterian)
Q:"You have a handful there!"
A:"Actually two handfuls plus one extra!"
Q:"Don't you know what causes that?!"
A1:"No...what?"
A2:"The water?"
A3:"holding hands!"
A4:"Yes, I'd have to say we do know what causes it and we have gotten it down pat...don't YOU know?"
Q:"We know what YOU like to do!"
A: The brilliance of this logic amazes me. I rarely answer this one but these are the thoughts that run through my head. "Let's see. 24 yrs of marriage. 11 children, 5 miscarriages equals 16 proven times of intimacy. Are you telling me that most people aren't intimate with their spouses at least once a year?! And Hmmm...let's see. You say that you have two children? Should I ask you if you DON'T really like to do that? Is there something wrong with your spouse?!"
Q:"Don't you have a TV?!"
A:"Yes, we sure do. Comes in handy to set the toddlers in front of so we can work on getting them younger siblings!"
Q:"Better you than me!"
A:"I agree."
Q:"Are you CRAZY?!"
A:"Yes. And you are rude."
Q:" Are you a glutton for punishment?!"
A:"No, just greedy for blessings."
Q:"Are these all yours?"
A:"Let me see (counting)...no, there are only 8 here, I have three more at home." (all mine, all my husbands, no 'yours, mine and ours', all one at a time, no multiples.)
Q:"Are you Catholic/Mormon/Orthodox Jew?"
A:"No, just hopelessly protestant!" (specifically, Presbyterian)
Q:"You have a handful there!"
A:"Actually two handfuls plus one extra!"
Q:"Don't you know what causes that?!"
A1:"No...what?"
A2:"The water?"
A3:"holding hands!"
A4:"Yes, I'd have to say we do know what causes it and we have gotten it down pat...don't YOU know?"
Q:"We know what YOU like to do!"
A: The brilliance of this logic amazes me. I rarely answer this one but these are the thoughts that run through my head. "Let's see. 24 yrs of marriage. 11 children, 5 miscarriages equals 16 proven times of intimacy. Are you telling me that most people aren't intimate with their spouses at least once a year?! And Hmmm...let's see. You say that you have two children? Should I ask you if you DON'T really like to do that? Is there something wrong with your spouse?!"
Q:"Don't you have a TV?!"
A:"Yes, we sure do. Comes in handy to set the toddlers in front of so we can work on getting them younger siblings!"
Q:"Better you than me!"
A:"I agree."
Q:"Are you CRAZY?!"
A:"Yes. And you are rude."
Q:" Are you a glutton for punishment?!"
A:"No, just greedy for blessings."
Jun 24, 2009
He's here!
Our friends arrived with our new buckling this afternoon! He is beautiful, big, white and named in honor of our friends, "Jarvis".
Now before y'all all chime in with one voice "But WAIT! We thought all animals on Swede Farm had to have TEXAS names!" Let me assure you that we haven't broken from tradition.
From The Handbook of Texas Online...
"JARVIS, TEXAS. Jarvis was on the Texas State Railroad at the intersection of two country roads just south of U.S. Highway 84, some ten miles east of Palestine in southeastern Anderson County. The community was the site of an unsuccessful oil-drilling operation in 1909. In the 1930s it had a number of dwellings, two churches, and one business. A 1982 map showed a few scattered dwellings at Jarvis, while a church, called Fields Chapel, was located a half mile north on U.S. Highway 84. By 1985 Jarvis was no longer named on the county highway map, though the church still stood. "
His "official", American Dairy Goat Association registered name has yet to be finalized, but he is Jarvis as far as we are concerned.
Now before y'all all chime in with one voice "But WAIT! We thought all animals on Swede Farm had to have TEXAS names!" Let me assure you that we haven't broken from tradition.
From The Handbook of Texas Online...
"JARVIS, TEXAS. Jarvis was on the Texas State Railroad at the intersection of two country roads just south of U.S. Highway 84, some ten miles east of Palestine in southeastern Anderson County. The community was the site of an unsuccessful oil-drilling operation in 1909. In the 1930s it had a number of dwellings, two churches, and one business. A 1982 map showed a few scattered dwellings at Jarvis, while a church, called Fields Chapel, was located a half mile north on U.S. Highway 84. By 1985 Jarvis was no longer named on the county highway map, though the church still stood. "
His "official", American Dairy Goat Association registered name has yet to be finalized, but he is Jarvis as far as we are concerned.
Jun 22, 2009
Crazy Times
Ever wish life were just a wee bit less full so that you could actually enjoy a little bit of it?
Ever have those days (weeks? Months?) where it seems as if you go from one potential disaster to another, trying to keep every plate in the air even as the tumble around you?
Feels like my life.
We fried the heating elements on the pasteurizer a few days ago. Ouch. Expensive and a real hiccup in our dairy. Our neighbor, who is worth his weight in gold, came over to give us the diagnosis (he is a master electrician) but more importantly, he cheered Tim up.
The green van decided that it did it's job in getting me to market on Saturday, so why did it need to shift higher than first gear for the 60 mile drive home?
Oldest daughter turned 21 on Saturday. We wanted to do something really big for her. Instead we did three markets and a very very late birthday dinner. (I think it was ten?)
Father's Day Sunday. Tim got to sleep in (which meant that we missed church...sigh). We spent Fathers day going and buying the water heater heating elements which we pray will work in the pasteurizer for now (they do) and then going to the emergency room in Navasota for a split eyelid in Judah (they were able to glue it) then home again for the same wonderful neighbor to come install the heaters. The fancy dinner that we were going to make did indeed get made...and was eaten at 11:40pm. (Barely made that one in time for Father's Day!)
And have I told you that we are now making cheese for a select few markets?
As a wise man once told me "it all adds up to rich life experiences". Rich life experiences. yes, indeedy.
Ever have those days (weeks? Months?) where it seems as if you go from one potential disaster to another, trying to keep every plate in the air even as the tumble around you?
Feels like my life.
We fried the heating elements on the pasteurizer a few days ago. Ouch. Expensive and a real hiccup in our dairy. Our neighbor, who is worth his weight in gold, came over to give us the diagnosis (he is a master electrician) but more importantly, he cheered Tim up.
The green van decided that it did it's job in getting me to market on Saturday, so why did it need to shift higher than first gear for the 60 mile drive home?
Oldest daughter turned 21 on Saturday. We wanted to do something really big for her. Instead we did three markets and a very very late birthday dinner. (I think it was ten?)
Father's Day Sunday. Tim got to sleep in (which meant that we missed church...sigh). We spent Fathers day going and buying the water heater heating elements which we pray will work in the pasteurizer for now (they do) and then going to the emergency room in Navasota for a split eyelid in Judah (they were able to glue it) then home again for the same wonderful neighbor to come install the heaters. The fancy dinner that we were going to make did indeed get made...and was eaten at 11:40pm. (Barely made that one in time for Father's Day!)
And have I told you that we are now making cheese for a select few markets?
As a wise man once told me "it all adds up to rich life experiences". Rich life experiences. yes, indeedy.
Jun 14, 2009
We're on vacation!
Well not us, actually, after all dairy farmers don't get vacations.
Our milk is on vacation! Some long time customers of ours are on vacation and they have brought along a gallon of milk. We are getting daily updates of where our milk is sleeping. A few days ago it went to Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, CO. Then on to Cheyenne, WY.
Where next?
Our milk is on vacation! Some long time customers of ours are on vacation and they have brought along a gallon of milk. We are getting daily updates of where our milk is sleeping. A few days ago it went to Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, CO. Then on to Cheyenne, WY.
Where next?
Jun 12, 2009
Sad day at Swede Farm
Our second daughter Christin loves fiber arts. Specifically she loves weaving. So a year and a half ago her grandfather very generously bought her two alpacas, a male named Texas Gold and a female named Chocolate Sundae. Sundae was bred to deliver her baby in June of 2008.
Sundae's delivery did not go well and the baby died.
Then Texas Gold became sick and by the time we found a vet that would see an alpaca Texas was too far gone. Frustratingly we could never find a cause for his death--his blood work and all other tests were fine.
In January Sundae went to stay with the breeder. The plan was to get some weight on her (she had lost a lot when she delivered and was slow to put it back on) and then be bred. Today Sundae was going to the vet for ultrasound confirmation that she was actually pregnant. When she jumped out of the vehicle at the vet's office, in a freak accident, she broke her leg. It was not just broken, it was shattered--and it was a compound fracture. It protruded past her skin.
We discussed all of our options and in the end surgery would require a month plus at the animal hospital and have only between 30-35% chance of survival.
So we opted to not put Sundae through this and she was put down.
At this point we feel like we are flunking Alpacas 101.
The breeder was more than kind and is not only paying for the bills at the vet office, she is also offering Christin a replacement Alpaca. But Christin is still, understandably quite sad.
This has to be the hardest part of owning animals. We wanted to fight this, we wanted to give her the shot but in the end we realized that that was for us, so that we would feel good about our decision. Sundae was an old girl. She was one of the last batch of Alpacas brought into the country form S. America. There is no telling how old she really was but at any rate, at her youngest possible age she was still past Alpaca middle age.
Anyway we made the best decision that we could for Sundae and now we move on.
Please keep Christin in your prayers, she is rather unhappy right now.
Sundae's delivery did not go well and the baby died.
Then Texas Gold became sick and by the time we found a vet that would see an alpaca Texas was too far gone. Frustratingly we could never find a cause for his death--his blood work and all other tests were fine.
In January Sundae went to stay with the breeder. The plan was to get some weight on her (she had lost a lot when she delivered and was slow to put it back on) and then be bred. Today Sundae was going to the vet for ultrasound confirmation that she was actually pregnant. When she jumped out of the vehicle at the vet's office, in a freak accident, she broke her leg. It was not just broken, it was shattered--and it was a compound fracture. It protruded past her skin.
We discussed all of our options and in the end surgery would require a month plus at the animal hospital and have only between 30-35% chance of survival.
So we opted to not put Sundae through this and she was put down.
At this point we feel like we are flunking Alpacas 101.
The breeder was more than kind and is not only paying for the bills at the vet office, she is also offering Christin a replacement Alpaca. But Christin is still, understandably quite sad.
This has to be the hardest part of owning animals. We wanted to fight this, we wanted to give her the shot but in the end we realized that that was for us, so that we would feel good about our decision. Sundae was an old girl. She was one of the last batch of Alpacas brought into the country form S. America. There is no telling how old she really was but at any rate, at her youngest possible age she was still past Alpaca middle age.
Anyway we made the best decision that we could for Sundae and now we move on.
Please keep Christin in your prayers, she is rather unhappy right now.
Jun 11, 2009
New Farmers Market
As I was sitting this evening watching the goats eat hay my eyes drifted over to where some of the children were playing. Timothy, Emma, Noah and Judah had set up a row of tables and chairs and were all sitting in the chairs behind the tables.
Playing school?
As I listened I heard that they were not reciting their ABC's or anything of the like. No, from Timothy I heard "fresh hay for sale...the best hay at the farmer's market!" Then as his brother Noah yelled "fresh hay!" Timothy challenged him "you cant sell that at the farmers market, that isn't local! You can only sell local hay at the farmers market! Besides, *I* am the farmer, I went and gathered this hay myself with my own hands!"
Liberty was selling pine cones. I think for a quarter each.
The next table down I saw Emma with a bowl full of half pint containers full of milk that her dad had sent to the house earlier for family use. Her sign read "Fresh Swede Farm Milk. Price: a kiss and a hug."
Now that is a deal no one could pass up!
Playing school?
As I listened I heard that they were not reciting their ABC's or anything of the like. No, from Timothy I heard "fresh hay for sale...the best hay at the farmer's market!" Then as his brother Noah yelled "fresh hay!" Timothy challenged him "you cant sell that at the farmers market, that isn't local! You can only sell local hay at the farmers market! Besides, *I* am the farmer, I went and gathered this hay myself with my own hands!"
Liberty was selling pine cones. I think for a quarter each.
The next table down I saw Emma with a bowl full of half pint containers full of milk that her dad had sent to the house earlier for family use. Her sign read "Fresh Swede Farm Milk. Price: a kiss and a hug."
Now that is a deal no one could pass up!
Jun 10, 2009
Updates
Well as you might have guessed by the last entry, I had a birthday this past weekend. That was NOT me posting, it was my oldest daughter, Katie. Not only did she surprise me on my blog, she also had her dad stall on the way home from church while she and some siblings went ahead and by the time I got home the house was clean and there were people showing up for a party! That was a surprise!
Markets continue to be consuming and wonderful. I swear we have the best customers ever. They encourage us to continue when we are dead dog tired and uplift us with stories of converting friends and family to goat milk.
If all goes well we will have a new buck in a few weeks! A breeder of absolutely wonderful Alpines started me in the breed last summer when I drove to Idaho and picked up our started herd of what has quickly become very close to our favorite breed. A few weeks ago I saw that she had a young buckling listed from a bloodline known for giving great quantities of milk. He was even affordable! The problem is...he is in Idaho! Tim was NOT inclined to let me head to Idaho for a second year in a row (not when we just finished getting the new transmission in the van after condemning it driving through the rocky mountains with the livestock trailer full of goats!) We could fly him, but that is somewhat costly plus it is now hot enough daily that most airlines won't accept a goat for flights anymore this year.
The Jarvis family to the rescue! I mentioned (mainly as a joke) that when they went on vacation they could bring me back a goat. They called last night, the day before they were to leave and said that they would! So if all goes well, our little Alpine herd will increase by one more this year. I am very excited to see what he will do for the future of our Alpine herd.
Markets continue to be consuming and wonderful. I swear we have the best customers ever. They encourage us to continue when we are dead dog tired and uplift us with stories of converting friends and family to goat milk.
If all goes well we will have a new buck in a few weeks! A breeder of absolutely wonderful Alpines started me in the breed last summer when I drove to Idaho and picked up our started herd of what has quickly become very close to our favorite breed. A few weeks ago I saw that she had a young buckling listed from a bloodline known for giving great quantities of milk. He was even affordable! The problem is...he is in Idaho! Tim was NOT inclined to let me head to Idaho for a second year in a row (not when we just finished getting the new transmission in the van after condemning it driving through the rocky mountains with the livestock trailer full of goats!) We could fly him, but that is somewhat costly plus it is now hot enough daily that most airlines won't accept a goat for flights anymore this year.
The Jarvis family to the rescue! I mentioned (mainly as a joke) that when they went on vacation they could bring me back a goat. They called last night, the day before they were to leave and said that they would! So if all goes well, our little Alpine herd will increase by one more this year. I am very excited to see what he will do for the future of our Alpine herd.
Jun 7, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Even though she might kill me, (she has already given me the look once today) I am going to say this anyways.......
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
We love you and hope that you have/will enjoy your birthday!! :D
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
We love you and hope that you have/will enjoy your birthday!! :D
Jun 1, 2009
You won't believe this, but...
we have apparently lost the camera.
Again.
I'd love to share pics of the newest baby goats, of Priscilla the mom of "advanced maternal age", of my adorable boys and of the newest baby rabbits...but I cannot.
And I refuse to buy a new camera. Nope, NOT gonna do it.
Again.
I'd love to share pics of the newest baby goats, of Priscilla the mom of "advanced maternal age", of my adorable boys and of the newest baby rabbits...but I cannot.
And I refuse to buy a new camera. Nope, NOT gonna do it.
Updates
I have had requests for some updates at the farmer's markets so I thought it was time to finish some stories.
1)Priscilla, the elderly first timer. Priscilla kidded 10 days ago. Sadly the first kid, a little doeling, had apparently died in the few days before labor. The second kid, a huge strapping buckling was very healthy and very flashy. He put to rest my concerns about the ability of her pelvis to spread enough as such a "mature" first timer to allow for a kidding. He also is SO pretty that I am determined to repeat the breeding next year. She is milking great and has a very nice udder. So...chalk one up for older moms!!!
2)I called about a washing machine that I found on Craigslist. The gentleman offered to bring the machine to me at the Bayou City Market from Baytown!!! It fit in the van (barely) and we got it home and it works great! I will still be happy when my first love, the front loader, is repaired but this new (to us anyway) washer has been a lifeline that is keeping us from drowning. Thank you Lee!
3)Kidding is OVER. We have no more pregnant does. YAY!!!!! The flip side of this is that we start breeding again in a few weeks in an attempt to make sure that we have milk year round, the pervasive challenge for dairy goat farms.
4)School is over for the year! No, not for us on Swede Farm, we will be going through the summer after taking several months off earlier this year. Public school is out which means that Tim isn't driving a school bus right now. So we get to sleep in now (45 minutes later) and he is wanting to do some fun stuff with the olders, school wise. Crash course in astronomy, anyone? Plus he promises me that he will be working on my kitchen which desperately needs it--we took the cabinet doors off to paint them before Seth was born and they have yet to be put back on!
5)Grace's horse, Cowboy had tried to slice his eyelid off a few days before the big goat show. It was reattached but they told us that it would take a week or so to know how successful the surgery was. Well it looks like it was very successful. His eyelid seems fully functional and the edges are approximating well. Phew!
6)Seth is definitely walking. And climbing. He is just so stinkin' cute! Have the others been as cute? I will say that one thing that I have noticed is as I have more children (or maybe as I get older and am more aware that each child might be our last) I enjoy each stage much more. He has to be the cutest, the smartest, the most fun baby (better make that toddler)--ever.
1)Priscilla, the elderly first timer. Priscilla kidded 10 days ago. Sadly the first kid, a little doeling, had apparently died in the few days before labor. The second kid, a huge strapping buckling was very healthy and very flashy. He put to rest my concerns about the ability of her pelvis to spread enough as such a "mature" first timer to allow for a kidding. He also is SO pretty that I am determined to repeat the breeding next year. She is milking great and has a very nice udder. So...chalk one up for older moms!!!
2)I called about a washing machine that I found on Craigslist. The gentleman offered to bring the machine to me at the Bayou City Market from Baytown!!! It fit in the van (barely) and we got it home and it works great! I will still be happy when my first love, the front loader, is repaired but this new (to us anyway) washer has been a lifeline that is keeping us from drowning. Thank you Lee!
3)Kidding is OVER. We have no more pregnant does. YAY!!!!! The flip side of this is that we start breeding again in a few weeks in an attempt to make sure that we have milk year round, the pervasive challenge for dairy goat farms.
4)School is over for the year! No, not for us on Swede Farm, we will be going through the summer after taking several months off earlier this year. Public school is out which means that Tim isn't driving a school bus right now. So we get to sleep in now (45 minutes later) and he is wanting to do some fun stuff with the olders, school wise. Crash course in astronomy, anyone? Plus he promises me that he will be working on my kitchen which desperately needs it--we took the cabinet doors off to paint them before Seth was born and they have yet to be put back on!
5)Grace's horse, Cowboy had tried to slice his eyelid off a few days before the big goat show. It was reattached but they told us that it would take a week or so to know how successful the surgery was. Well it looks like it was very successful. His eyelid seems fully functional and the edges are approximating well. Phew!
6)Seth is definitely walking. And climbing. He is just so stinkin' cute! Have the others been as cute? I will say that one thing that I have noticed is as I have more children (or maybe as I get older and am more aware that each child might be our last) I enjoy each stage much more. He has to be the cutest, the smartest, the most fun baby (better make that toddler)--ever.
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