Homesteads are made for kids

It has been quite a rainy week.  Rain we love, humidity we are not used to but it's the hail and tornadoes we don't take a liking to.  We are powering on despite not having our tractor right now... it is in the shop due to one of the recently tornadoes that threw the horse's manger into the window of the tractor.  The rains have brought up seeds we planted back in March. It made me laugh and feel blessed all at the same time. We may have pumpkins yet.

It rained today.  I didn't get to do what I wanted to today... vehicle is still in the shop but we made the best of the day.   It began with tea...

And a frittata from the homestead...

Then we got a surprise text that my son's wife's nieces and nephew wanted to come out to the homestead.  How cool , they are visiting our state and asked to come to the homestead. 

We showed them the greenhouse and picked a few things.  We talked about how plants are pollinated differently. 

Then collected eggs...

The turkeys came to say hello. 

We gave biscuit scraps to the chickens.

Everyone shared.

The sheep saw someone visiting and wanted to say hello. 

Then it was craft time. We finished up the last of the birdhouses. 

My grandson asked if he could come and spend the night. Sure. He loves to wear his new "chef" hat everywhere.

He wanted to help prepare the corn and learn about cooking.  We were making corn, baked beans, hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. 

Everyone else crafted on .

It was a great day to stay indoors and create things and eat.  Storms were all around.

We had a wonderful visit with everyone. Our friends will fly back home on Tuesday. They left with a kit of mustard seeds and containers to plant them in. I told them I will try and send them craft kits every now and then. They loved it. 

Grandson stayed for the night.  He spent most of his time with Papa Red.  They caught toads and fed the animals before putting them to bed. 

They watched Hook together. 

He asked me to make a shark cozy for Shark Week like I made for his cousin. 

I crocheted while they went for a walk. 

They walked over a mile. Papa taught him about corn and showed him inside the fields. 

Then back home for milk and apples with the cats. 

And his new shark cozy! 

This is what homesteading is really about... at least it is for us. 

peace 

Full Moon Friday ... a birth and death - it's not always pretty and Little House on the Prairie

It's Friday and a full moon. You know something is bound to happen. 

Around 1:45 Peppy, our Nubian - Alpine goat gave birth to two beautiful blue-eyed kids... a boy and a girl. She took off to the horse trailer. I guess she didn't want to be disturbed.  Her labor was short and smooth.  Our goats are known to give birth right on time. I went back to see when she mated and realized she was due today or tomorrow.  She did a great job. 

Someone is very proud and she should be. 

As I walked back to the house I heard a horrible screaming.  Ugh.  The grey rooster had had it with the white rooster.  The grey rooster has been bullying the white rooster his whole life.  Well, tonight he got the white one pinned.  He was brutal. The whole thing was like a horror show. He pecked his eyes out and then pecked him until his head was almost off.  I was a baby. I cried and ran in the house. 

Dude when out and butcher him since he was still barely alive. 

He said the destructiveness was a blessing for us... another meal and he thanked the rooster and God. 

It is what homesteading is about.  You see it all from birth to death and we recycle where we can.

On to the lighter side of homesteading. 

We did try our "canned" zucchini bread and it was magnificent. I will do this again. 

If you need a quick project that girls will love, try this pattern. It has no sewing!

They each made one.

I did get three hats knitted for my mom's donation kit for newborns.

 Sleep well. 

peace

New life and tough lessons

Remember our milk goats Pepper and Running Water?  Well, even though we sell or trade our goats we make sure they go to great homes and we stay in touch with folks.  We traded these for a pig and a female kid to be born. Pepper is a Nubian and was bred with Skippy, our Alpine so any girls born will produce lots of milk with high butterfat.  Community is extremely important to us.  I was on my way to work when we got the call Pepper was in labor and had been for a while. 

When we got there we could instantly tell something was not right. We have had many goat have kids without any incidence but we knew it would some day happen... no one is immune to the stress of nature. 

She was exhausted and trying to push. Right off we notice how bloated and hard her abdomen was, something we had not seen before. 

Dude called the vet and the vet suggested there may be a dead kid blocking the way for the others and Dude needed to get in there and get it out. He has done this before but he knew this would be different. 

He pulled out the first kid. There was no sack around it and it smelled horrible. We all knew the worse had happened. It was dead and probably had been for a while.  Farmsister, Alethea's son had come out earlier and said something smelled . None of us had noticed but leave it to a young nose to notice what none of us had. Lesson one... always listen to the young.

Lesson two...with homesteading you do deal with death.  Sadness and tears but we had to keep going. Pepper was ready  to  push but she was weak. 

She is tired and exhausted. We help her push while Dude goes in and pulls gently on the next one. 

Number two, a boy. Healthy one but he seems a bit tired. 

Pepper wants to take care of him but she is just too tired. Contractions began again...

This is the first one all cleaned up. 

Jamin, Alethea's husband built these warming pods for the kids.  They are genius and worked great. Just what they needed.  We are definitely going to steal this idea!

One more to go.  Another boy finally born. Can you see it, it is white...the opposite of the one above. Healthy and loud. A very good sign.

The birth was very stressful for Pepper.  Lesson 3... she couldn't stand or walk.  Alethea called the vet who said it was fairly normal.  A round of antibiotics and steroids were ordered.  She should be fine in a day or two. 

If you want to follow their journey too you will find them at Green Prairie Farm.

peace