I Am Here Today - Give Thanks

Wednesday was 4 " of snow and Thursday we reached 62 warm windy and I mean windy degrees. Today is might top out at 70 but we pay for it by winds clocking in around 48 miles per hour. It is hard to get outside work done when you can't keep on your feet. The country - strike that - make that the world has been hit with Mother Natures Hard Hands and we are not out of it yet...

This morning the weather guesser gave us here in Colorado all the up to date information on how to keep yourself safe now that we are in Tornado Season. Explain to me how those poor folks across the South were to keep themselves safe??? We do the best with can and hope that you make it through. We do the sit in the basement with head lamps on as we pray with all our might that this time we are spared and others do not suffer. It reminds me of when my boys would kick down an ant hill to watch them run and then rebuild (Yes, I explained to them that this was not a good thing to do) however I think in the long run it taught them that we are all ants. That forces greater then ourselves has complete control over when we are here or not - this is not meant to make you depressed but rather to remind yourself to live in THIS MOMENT and ENJOY those very small things that pass us by without a notice because none of us are to know when it will be our last day here.

Even thou the wind is already howling and the animals have hunkered down in their shelters I will go about celebrating those things that are right in front of me today and try not to be living in future worry.... What will be on your "Today I am Thankful" list? Mine was at 4 am that my sweet little goat bottle kids where so happy to see me as I walked into the barn this morning. They greet me with such love, need and tiny kisses that no matter so tired, slow or in pain I am it washes away all of that and fills me up with purpose and joy...

Today as the dye pots are bubbling away on the stove and I try to capture that perfect photo of what I have been working on into the wee hours of the morning I will post a sign to remind myself - I Am Here Today - Give Thanks

I also want to give thanks for all of you who take the time to read my silly posts and then comment on them - you add such joy to my day and I look foreword to reading your thoughts. You give me a touch stone when I have spent too much time in my brain stewing things over. I give thanks each day that I have an extended circle of friends who care about the goings on at this Funny Farm. I give Thanks for you!

Easter Day for the Farm Girl

The morning started a bit rocky with Olivia taking her cast off again. That makes it four times this week. Then the bottle kids come unhinged because I made them wait a tad because I was leaving the farm and needed to feed them right before leaving which cost me two changes of clothing before I could step off the farm - Oh and Yes, Snow and bitter cold... Did the Easter Bunnies tail get frozen? I know my tail was frozen...

Then I was off to Nick and Brooke home for a wonderful time. The meal was ever so tasty - great ham, super potatoes, lip smacking asparagus and then they even made one of my fav's "White Peach Sangria"... Best of all was spending time with them and the ever funny Reese... Every minute was very special and went by too quickly.

Upon returning to the farm the bottle kids acted as if I was gone for days. They could not drink their formula fast enough and hated that I slowed them down... Did not need tummy aches because of being Piggies... Olivia managed to take off her cast while I was gone - so I will have to put my thinking cap on and try another prototype but my brain is mush for now and she is settled for the night.. I will give an extra bottle feeding during tonight to make up for what they missed while I was gone and to make sure they are not too worried that I will be gone again...

All in all a perfect Easter day for this Farmgal - all except the driving part with the nutters...
Thanks Family for a GREAT DAY and for the leftovers...

Great Way To Start A Hard Working Day

Ready to start my Saturday with a great breakfast - Two over easy eggs from my sweet hens laid this morning, some great bacon from a local farmer - no nasty stuff in this yummy meat and then 3 small pancakes from my favorite pancake mix. That's right a mix and out here it is very hard to find so while shopping Friday morning I grabbed up the two boxes I found. The mix is called "Kodiak Cakes" and they are all natural and Tummy Yummy!!!

They also make a Brownie Mix which I have in the cupboard but not yet made - I am sure they are lip smacking too...

So now that I have a full tummy what is on the schedule today?? It is cold, gray and windy outside - not sure if I will spend much time out there. Maybe instead I will get to work inside. I started at the 2 am bottle feeding a roasted vegetable pasta sauce in the crock pot - smells delish. Then I started the deviled eggs boiling and finished them in the cold outside. Here is a tip I have found that works wonders - if you start you eggs in cold water with vinegar, salt and a lid. Turn on the head and bring to a boil. Then turn off heat and let come to room temp and if the weather is as cold as it is outside last night - just above freezing I put the pot outside with lid on and let it get cold outside. This morning I could peel the eggs without a hassle and they turned out just perfect.

I have been thinking of making some good old fashion cream puffs with a spoon full of strawberries. I am also making Rhubarb with Strawberries base which will go into the freezer because then on a whim I can make a cobbler, turnovers or even a roasted pork loin. This evening I will be making chicken thigh roladen with artichoke/herbed goat cheese filling. Again, most will go in the freezer.

So hope you had a great breakfast - your always welcome to eat with me but we do it early even before the roosters rise. Speaking of them I thought I found them a new home but the handyman who was going to take them spoke with his employer and she said "NO"... So I reminded my guys that it seems no one is excited about them so they better lay low and stay out of the hen house. I purchased an organic chicken at the market for the oven and wondered why I am spending money to feed my guys and spending more to put one in the oven??? I saw also on ETSY that folks are selling 10 rooster feathers for $6.00 - BOY, I AM STUPID!!! I tried to figure how much a bald rooster would net me - BOY, I AM IN THE WRONG BUSINESS......

When No One Is Looking!!

As the wind howled all night again, even had snow scattering and blowing - I walked out to give the 2 am bottle and with all the noise the little bottle kids did not hear me. As I rounded the corner and slowly walked inside and what did I see but under the warmth of the heating lamb there was Olivia out front blocking any draft and all four of the kids snuggled behind her sound asleep... Not only is Opal being warmed by her mother but my three little bottle kids. I tell you it just surprised the heck out of me but made me so thrilled. Olivia had not caught sight of me yet and I just stood in amazement...

Just then Olivia saw me and quickly stood up on her three legs. She stood in front of the sleeping kids and gave me a look as if to say - "How did they get behind me"?? Suddenly the kids awoke and ran to me. Olivia came over to me and watch closely as I fed everyone in turn. She had to inspect each of the bottles and checked my hand to make sure that I was doing them right....

After the feedings the four of them started to play around the pen and Olivia quickly pushed them back to the corner as if to say "Back to bed - it is too early to be playing around"... The four of them quickly ran to the corner and stood. Olivia gave me a look like "Alright, you done your part now go". After saying good night to all the other mothers and babies and huge hugs to Chief I left the barn a bit lighter know that when no one is looking I do have someone looking out for my little ones...

Thanks Olivia.

Cracked Bottle and Knee Caps

Is there anything in life that duck tape will not fix?? At the 1 am feeding everything was going swimmingly and as I hung over the pen feeding Wynonna and Max and drifting off in my head of what work I be needing to get done in only a couple of hours. I noticed that Mishka was creepying up behind me to stand next to me and complain that she was no longer my one and only bottle kid even when she is far too old to be glued to my butt. She is not happy and is feeling displaced. Just as I was explaining to her that she really ought to have tried a bit more on considering being the Mother to Max - Wynonna smacked the bottle so hard in my hand that it went smashing into the cold hard metal pen and placed a cracked in the bottom. At that same moment for whatever reason Kate decided to plow into the side of Mishka which in turn had Mishka's hard head and horns ramming into the back of my knee's and before I could even think my knee's went into that same cold hard metal pen. After letting out a big scream and startling everyone in the barn I had to sit on the cold hard metal drum to gather my wits and to make sure no real harm came to my ever tender knee's... I finished the feeding barely as the bottle was leaking. I hobbled back to the house, took me two pain pills, found the duck tape to fix the bottle and then off to find the heating pad... By the time I got to my bed the body was aching and my mind thinking of all those childish squabbles these girls can get into over nothing - sound like anyone you know??

I remember at an Easter Dinner I was having at my house some 20 years ago I just made the silly comment "Mom always liked me more" when my two sisters came unhinged... I kept saying it was just a joke but my gosh - for years after that they would not give it up. It amazes me how some folks both two and four legged hold onto things way past their prime and waste so much of the present with little words and actions. I guess Kate and Mishka have something to work out but not at the cost of my knees...

So today's feedings will be interesting - down to one good bottle and another slowly leaking, stil only two hands and three hungry kids... I am not great at math but I will need more then duct tape to have this run smoothly.

Monday, Monday - what I do instead of painting my nails

Busy Sunday Night and Monday Morning Here!!! I was the worry wart that we all knew I would be... Checked on Goldie every two hours between the bottle feeding times just to make sure she was doing O.K. Her tiny voice was a bit horse because she was calling for me but just like with my human sons I had to sometimes let them cry a bit to learn they could settle themselves down and be just fine. Now, I admit I would sit outside their door and peek under the door along the floor just to make sure they were safe but as I have said many times I know this is for her own good as it was for my sons... I also started plucking a few more of the girls when I was in the barn this morning. It is like a sickness - once I start I can not stop.. My fingers take over my brain and before I know it I have finished two or three girls and I have been in the barn way too long... What I love about my crosses is they blow out their fiber just like Angora Bunnies. If you start them early they will allow you just to pluck off the fiber and that way you do not end up with second cuts or blunt ends which I feel do not draft as nicely. So I did Jill this morning and she was a dream to do however I had to do Rasputin because his fiber was being drug behind him along the ground. This was not going to be as easy as Jill. Being hopefully smarter then him I went to work. First I constructed a maze of pens which go to funnel him to where I want which at the end is a catch pen that I can squeeze the panels together if he gets a bit aggressive. Once I had him there it was slow breathing and talking softly. Yes, sometime it works as long as you do not have all the goat girls screaming for him like a rock star. Those girls - No Help!! As I went about getting his fleece is was anything but calm. So the panels gave him a nice hug to keep those huge horns from cutting me up. I admit it I am not into pain if I can help it. I took the best fleece, tried to clear up some of the peed on tags and boy spaces that no one needs or wants. Great however for the compost bin.. After I got most of him done I told him that we would call it a day because there is no need to over stress these big boys - not good for their tummies. When I opened the gates and let him out with the his pasture mates and llama's he turned and gave me a bit of a smile - as if to say "Wow, I can feel the air on my body - feels great". Now just so we do not have a snow storm hit he will keep that kind thought and we might be friends again. He is such an amazing boy but would hate to be on the wrong side of those horns. I bet your wondering what else is on the schedule for today? I have a dozen skeins of yarn dyeing on the stove. I finished packaging up the last of the felt shards, folded and stored away the goat towels and started on my own laundry, finished printing out goat baby pictures that will be tucked into customers packages. So all in all just a typical Monday with still the evening to come. What was your day like??

Preschool for Goldie

We have all been in this position - it is time to send your little one to daycare or preschool. You prepared your little one, got everything ready and spent hours, days or maybe even weeks convincing yourself you where doing the right thing... You worried, cried, tried to come up with reasons not to do so but in your heart you knew it was best.... Now it has been over 20 some years since I had to do this with my two legged sons but today all those feelings came rushing back... Yes, this afternoon Goldie had to go out to the barn to start her life path as a GOAT!!! I gave her bottle to her in the barn and sat there while she got use to the sounds, smells and activity level. I then put her in the pen with Opal, Wynonna, Max , Olivia (which I had just reapplied a new cast on her leg which is doing well) and told Chief to sit and watch... I walked out of the barn and then stood outside the door just like I did all those years ago when I placed my oldest son Nick into his first day care. I stood holding my breath as if he could hear me and waited to hear him cry but Nothing!! Here I was doing the same thing but for a little goat baby... Motherhood never ends! I stood for about 10 minutes peeking in but out of sight of the babies to see what was going on. Just like in the human daycare the other goat babies sniffed her over (now I am not saying that the human kids sniffed Nick but you know what I mean), touched her to see what she was about and then went about their business of nibbling on the hay. Goldie looked around a bit lost but just like my son did Goldie immediately walked over to the group and started doing what they where doing... She did not even notice I was not in the room. I DID MY JOB CORRECTLY! As I walked back to the house I must admit I felt a bit rejected. Surely I was more important to my kids (both two and four) then just a meal provider. Did I not serve a more vital role then the maid, nurse and food service provider?? Then I remembered my job as a MOTHER is to make my kids stand on their own - understand that they have the tools to be separate from me and thrive. By the time I reached the shop door I had a big smile on my face - I heard in my brain "Good Job Grace" besides I will be back in four hours to do bottles all around. See for a while they will still need me for that but they also have each other and they are going to be just Great! Now it is time to do the bathroom floor goat towels, bleach the floor and put away the space heater. Preschool is now open and we all will be just fine.