How to Feel Old

Today is my "baby's" birthday. She's 34. I'd like to ask how that happened, but I think I know the answer.... I blinked!

My oldest daughter is now 38 and the middle daughter will be 36 in a couple weeks. Yes, I blinked a few times there too.

I suspect that I'm going to have to shake my head a whole lot to clear the thought processes in reckoning with THEM turning 40. I was too busy at 40 to have much time to ponder on it and now it's catching up with me - FAST!

My advice, you ask, DON'T take your eyes off your baby! Before you know it they will be turning 30 and looking at YOU while shaking their own head and asking if that makes YOU feel old TOO!! Then in a blink you'll be staring at 40 year old children!

Just don't go there!

I'm In Trouble!

I learned something new! I'm one of those who is very careful about giving out personal details on line. I don't like using a card to buy on the net but realize sometimes we might have too. I'm concerned about my info being stolen, identity theft, etc. I'm not paranoid, but concerned. I don't agree that everything is safe with the httpS. After all, how many times has the fed gov been compromised and hacked into?

A couple weeks ago I got the email WalMart flier and there was a camera I'd really like. Bobbi kitty has knocked my camera off the desk again and it's not working really well. Maybe that time I dropped it and cringed might have been the precurssor..... Well, WalMart has a new version of the Fuji Finepix camera on sale for less than half what I paid for mine new several years ago.

I pondered on it awhile and then got another email flier with more camera info. I had to look! Lo and behold! I couldn't believe what I read for a moment! Not only was the camera I liked still available at the sale price, but it can be bought with free shipping to my home, not just the store!!!

Then I saw the magical info... I could pay thru PAYPAL!!! I don't know when they started that, but I do use my paypal account and so far have had good luck with it. That clinched it. It helped that hubby said if I got a new camera was he going to have one? He'd be happy with the current one until it completely croaks! So I did it! I have a new blue camera coming and will be here between December 6th - 9th. I HAVE to have a camera of course! After all, I have a blog, critters, and a life!

But I'm in trouble now that I know I can buy thru paypal and the WalMart flier and never leave the house! And, that my readers, was my black Friday purchase. Now maybe I will be able to do a better job posting pics!

Today ...

feels like Winter is here! We have a skiff of snow that has stayed and been added to from yesterday. The stock tank and buckets of water are freezing so I'm hauling some gallon jugs of hot water to the chickens and goats. Today I MUST get the tank heater in the stock tank. It's stayed below 0 for over 48 hours so the ground is also freezing. I still have to move a few things outside and during the night thought of something I'd forgotten that needs emptied if possible (outdoor laundry tubs).

I'm done hanging laundry out, that's for sure!

The fire went out over night so tonight I'll have to start putting some wood on it during the night. I usually get up a couple times during the night anyway so will just have to do that.

Today I can continue going through Aunt Florence's recipes. I was handed a few cookbooks and envelope with recipes Thanksgiving Day. I'm tickled to have them and the hand written ones was like getting handed some treasured gems! Aunt Florence was a wonderful cook! I think I'll start a notebook as there are some punched pages in the collection. There's too much to just add them to my recipe box. What a gift! I LOVE cookbooks and have far too many. I am always picking some up at Good Will too and have found some GREAT ones.

Today I also need to crop some photos to share with you, my treasured readers!

Today I need to decide what I'm going to make for dinner with some of the leftover turkey that came home with us. After the big dinners we do some "trading" of the left overs so we get to help each other use them up without waste. There are a lot of choices of what to make with the left overs!

And, last but not least, it's time to start wearing some socks when I go out to do chores and outside work! My footies sure felt the cold yesterday! :) I better grab some gloves on the way out too! BRRR!

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I have many many things I'm thankful for in spite of being out of work and having a disability. A few things that are first to mind that I'm thankful for are:

*the family we have to share some time and dinner with. We're much smaller in numbers now so it makes what we have even more cherished.

*freedom here in the US and our military folks and their family and close friends. I'm especially thankful for and wish many blessings for those families who have lost a family member in the service for any reason. May their heavy hearts realize that empty chair at their table is blessed by so many of us with tons of thankfulness for their service.

*for my hubby's mobility and that he's made it a another year here on earth. Last year at this time we were in the hospital in fear of his losing his life again. Also for the ortho surgeon hubby now sees who really knows what is going on with a diabetic and stroke victim. (Seems there should be a better word then victim!)

*for heat, food, and the roof over my head.

*for YOU, my blog followers and readers. May you have a blessed holiday season and wonderful Thanksgiving.

The graphics here are some from a group that shares them for use on the computer and I'm sharing them with you. Please take those that you enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stuffing vs Dressing

We all probably know the difference between the two, but just in case I thought I'd mention it anyway as it might help someone else with a way to be correct in their Turkey Day terminology! Stuffing goes in and comes out of the bird and dressing is cooked in a separate dish without being stuffed in a bird.

Modern day cooking says we shouldn't be making or eating stuffing any more due to cross contamination of our food and the possibility of food poisoning. Our family has changed to dressing but for time and ease of cooking. This change was made several years ago.

Either way, I LOVE plain ole dressing/stuffing. My MIL use to make the best that I've ever had. I wish I knew her magic ingredient that made it so tasty! There was always something "there" that I couldn't "define" and she never was precise in what she used. I've had several fancy types of stuffing over the years and they are good, but I like the "vintage" type of old the best.

Do you have stuffing or dressing? Do you like it?

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner! Are you?

Hunting Success

My BIL has been coming out deer hunting for the 3rd year. The first year he got a nice doe and last year nothing. Yesterday he got a really nice 6 point buck. Unfortunately I don't have a pic as I forgot to grab my camera on my way out the door to go help him bring it up. There are 2 gates to go through to get to the woods so I go along and help by getting the gates.

I couldn't believe how much damage had been done to the fence in the last week. I had to go back out early afternoon and spend an hour doing repairs. I'm glad it wasn't rainy like today!

One less deer to be demolishing my fence! One less deer to be in my yeard eating out of my garden! BIL? He was a happy hunter and now has a couple stories to share!

Eight more days of hunting season and all the shooting will be over! Peace will resume.

I WON!

I won a drawing! And it wasn't just any ole average drawing either. It was a drawing that is "ME"! One couldn't have designed a drawing better suited for me unless it was for money, an appliance I need, a truck, a high class dairy goat or buck, etc. I'm also one of those folks who "never wins" anything - well hardly ever at all.


I think I posted about the cheese making going on over to Suzanne's Chickens In The Road blog/site ( www.chickensintheroad.com ). If not I will rememdy that soon! Anyway, Suzanne is blogging in conjunction with New England Cheesemaking Supply Company (www.cheesemaking.com ). They are the "go-to" site for all things cheese making such as supplies, cultures, etc. They have a wonderful website and newsletter too. They are supporting Suzanne's blogging with a give-away for some of her cheese making posts. This was was for Montery Jack Cheese and I WON the drawing! I am so so tickled! I'll be getting several items in the kit that I haven't been able to afford such as the special wax, their cultures, etc. There's a mold included, rennet, etc.

Like I said, this drawing is "me". I will now be able to make some hard cheeses! I'll also get to use some cultures too. I've always used cultured buttermilk and yogurt for my cheese making which works great, but isn't the same as the "official" cheese cultures. I can't wait to try some Gouda and guyere! Oh, and some Swiss and Monterey Jack and.....

I can't hardly believe I won, but it's been confirmed. It's TRUE! This is a drawing of a "life time"! Thank you so much to Suzanne at Chickens In The Road and New England Cheesemaking!!

If It's Not One Thing....

... it's definitely another! Our used refrigerator didn't make it a year! It CROAKED! It also ran up the electric bill for the last couple months. OUCH! I could have bought a NEW refrigerator for what it ran the bill up. It's one of those home-ownership issues that we deal unhappily with! I have a much newer used refrigerator coming Friday. I've spent a few days researching new and found the "affordable" new ones have a very limited life expectancy. What happened to the refrigerators of the past that lasted 25 or more years? The first new I looked at (Frigadaire) has a year's warranty. The reviews were less than 50% happy and all complained of the noise. One stated their's croaked a month after the warranty expired. I expect a refrigerator to last longer than 13 months! Are these made by children in China? I really shouldn't even "go there"!

The good news is that on our way to town, we got caught on the edge of quite a rain storm. Fortunately as I turned South we drove out of it. We got to town and while in Good Will it hit there. I had expected to see a rainbow but didn't. The sky just looked like it should be a beautiful canvas for one. We drove out of the storm and into sunshine with it still pouring. When we left the store and were returning home, we enjoyed a slightly cooler air but it was very clean and fresh smelling. I haven't noticed the air smelling so nice in some time. I wish I could bottle that! Refreshing and a very nice drive. The scenery is so brown and blah though. To see a Winter wheat field, means it stands right out and looks odd with the surrounding pre-winter look. To me, trees look so much nicer in their Summer green, than their bare Winter nakedness.

I've had a short sit-down and now it's time for chores and milking! It will be dark in an hour! Then I need to return to throwing out refrigerator contents. The chickens are sure enjoying their treats.

My work never ends.

Cordouroy or Corduroy?

It's an easily misspelled word! The material though is known for it's warmth and durability. I grew up with it and suppose most of you must have too! It comes and goes a bit as far as style, but never goes away. I would say that's a good thing! Over the years, I've noticed a lot of changes in the material. It's had wide to narrow wales (the puffed up ridge with the alternating grooves up and down the material), and has become a much more soft and "cooperative" material to work with.

Did you know that it now comes with patterns along with it's wales?

Did you also know that there is a National Corduroy Appreciation Club? They have an annual meeting on 11/11 being the 1111 resemble corduroy. Their mascot is of course, a whale! Sunday Morning had a segment on about them and it was quite interesting. Some parts were a bit commical in ways, but also informative. I had no idea there were corduroy cuff links, etc. I had no idea such a well-known material would gather such a following that it has national recognition. I suspect we will soon find there is a National Corduroy Day! The Club didn't seem to be the type to NOT go to that length or not think of it.

I knew and have seen a lot to do with natural fibers and fiber sheep, goats and llamas, along with fiber (angora) rabbits. I knew there was a segment of the industry that also has to do with silk due to the "farming" methods needed to produce it. But I never expected that I'd see or hear of a group for Corduroy!

If you have time to kill something and find yourself needing to google and surf, look up cordouroy and corduroy. There are a lot of links using both spelling. The only thing I didn't figure out is if the our is from the UK and ur the US spelling which we see in some words such as colour vs color.

I will definitely need to make a detour into a fabric shop when I'm next near one to check out the new style of corduroy. I do like to sew and haven't sewn with it for some time. I'm sure I must have some scraps that I've saved for making doll clothes too. That's a project I hope to get back to working on this winter. It's a good excuse to sit in the living room with the wood stove and watch some tv!

Opening Day - 2010 Deer Season

Over the weekend it sounded like a war zone here. For some insane reason people seem to think that they are getting the deer moving by standing around just shooting. Why? They are already moving due to bow season and the time of the year. It coincides with their rut period and the bucks on the move for reproduction. This shooting isn't target practice. There is a rhythm to the shooting when target practicing and I hear that also. The deer are also on the move due to the amount of target practicing which started a couple weeks ago.

The season starts at 7 am and boy did the shooting start up for a bit! My BIL comes out to hunt gun season and we let a neighbor down the road do bow hunting. This helps keep people off our property as we ask these 2 guys to please run them off. There's a hill that goes down to the woods. When people come onto our property from the back they don't know that and have (multiple times) shot and had their shot come up into our yard and it's low. Our house has been shot and thankfully it didn't come inside. I hate standing at the kitchen sink morning or evening due to the risk. We've had some close calls. I had a bullet whiz by my legs when hanging laundry one year and boy did I dance and squeal! I also worry about my goats and horse getting shot.

So I'm doing my annual avoiding the treks to fix fence, etc where I have to go out into the pastures or anywhere near the woods. I avoid being outside close to dark due to the stray shots from over zealous, excited hunters who forget to think. I keep the critters up close.

I also wish the deer (pic above) would stay out of the pasture there as they are right next to the driveway and close to the house! They also come right into the yard.

The herds here in my area are reported to be quite large this year. So I hope being the economy has been really bad and our job loses some of the worst in the nation the last 12 years that the hunters are able to cull a LOT of deer. It's better for the deer over the winter trying to keep fed and means reduced car accidents. High deer numbers are horrible on the farmers' crops as they really do eat a significant amount of them.

Oh, no, I'm not wearing the same orange shirt for 2 weeks! I have several as they sure seem safer to wear out there in the back yard! They were super cheap buys from the GoodWill Last Chance store for $1 each!

I need a countdown banner for the number of days left in deer season! (Only 15 days left after today!)

Seasoning Cast Iron

I just read an excellent article on another blog about the science of seasoning cast iron. I thought some of you might like to read it also. It recommends flax seed oil which was a first for me, but it makes sense. As I was getting into it, I thought she was going to recommend linseed oil and was starting to cringe. Thankfully I didn't need to!

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

It does make me wonder if our grandmothers used linseed oil or what. I seem to remember my mom using lard. Back then, linseed oil may not have been so chemically processed and all like it is now. It's great for the handles of garden implements, but I really don't want to eat from pans seasoned with it.

Good article! It gives me something to ponder on and wonder what you think of it!

This That and the Other Stuff

Bummer. We've already had snow a couple days, but then we've had a bit over a week of really nice weather again. It has been nice and I've really enjoyed it and tried to make good use of it. Now it's raining which wasn't to start until "sometime after 9, after dark". It started about 4 while I was outside getting more pre-winter stuff done and chores.

The goats are pretty well set for winter. I have moved Nipper and Bandit (bucks) into the barn. I have 2 large pens in the barn for the goats which use to be my huge, double foaling stalls. I still have the turkeys and chickens in the one but put Bandit in one with Macey and Mo'Nique for company. Nipper is in the other with the ND does, his 2 doelings and the 4 Alpine does. The 2 doelings need me to take them to their new home real soon.

The rubber buckets and tubs for winter watering are almost all in place. I hate having my good buckets bust from the water freezing and expanding. I'm almost done covering the top of the buck pen so the owls and hawks can't get my chickens and so the chickens and the turkeys won't be able to fly out either. Now I need to move more chickens out there as soon as we have another couple days that will be non-raining so they can get around and adjust a few days. I'll move the turkeys out there at the same time. I need another roll of chicken wire to finish the top of the pen and hope to get that this coming week. I think I can get the larger chickens all moved out before the top is finished though.

I have almost all of the destructive mess cleaned up from Buckley, who's major source of enjoyment was trashing anything he could while rubbing his itchy horns and head on it. Some of that was frustration because he wanted out with the does and couldn't get to them. I do hope he'll be happier in his new home as he was to have some does of his own. He's really a nice boy but was frustrated with does in heat and knowing the other 6 boys were all "with" the does in his thinking. All that is left is some broken up pieces of wood to bag and keep dry for starting the wood stove over the winter.

I still need to get the chain link fence that was given to me moved so it's not mangled in snow plowing over the winter. I have finally decided where I'm going to use it. I have a spot behind the barn that is only needing 2 sides fenced to move the turkeys too for next summer and I'm going to use it to do that. Then I'll only need a cover over it to keep predators out. It's also in line with the electric fence so I can have a couple hot wires for coons, possums, coyotes or such to get the message.

I'd like to get half dozen pallets moved out by the barn so if I need any over the winter I'll have some close instead of trying to get them moved so far from where they currently are. Every winter it seems I come up with a couple uses for a few. Then if I don't use them they'll be there for a new compost bin come Spring.

I still need to move the glider and a couple things outside the back door around the corner and cover them with a tarp for winter.

I need to get the electric cord run out to the stock tank for the horse and her heater in the tank. I need to put a couple stakes in to make sure the plow knows where the cord lays so it's not plowed up. I heard that Lowes has some solar driveway lights that work great in a chicken coop and such and are only $18. I'd like to get a couple for out by the barn and buck pen. I'd like one of their led hats too. That would sure be handy! It also has me wondering if there is any type of a solar pack that has an electric outlet attached that could have my stock tank heater plugged in and not use electricity. It would sure be handy to have the tank where I'd rather have it (not under a walnut tree)! I need to fill the tank again soon too.

An the last of the bigger projects left is to move the gate out the front door to it's new spot, move the older fence out, and pull the 2 fence posts. Then if hubby is laid up again this winter (needs more surgery at some point) I can get him in and out of the house a lot easier as I'll be able to park within a few feet of the front door to load and unload him.

We also have some wood that is split and piled out back that needs to come up from the woods yet. That can be worked on soon as the bow hunter who hunts on our property will be done hunting until musket season and he's the one who so kindly has helped up with wood cutting and splitting the last couple of years.

I think I'm about ready. It's a good thing too because I'm sure worn out! Are you about ready for Winter? Do you get a lot of snow? Ice?

New Layers!

I didn't have time to post about this last week but just have to share it, of course!

You probably know by now that I got a lot of satisfaction and had fun hatching eggs this year. I had a horrible (HORRIBLE) time stopping, yet I knew it would get too cold for tiny birds to survive the winter so had too.

It's been fun to watch these youngsters I hatched out grow and start maturing. There have been quite a few days that I felt the pain of loss when I found a youngster dead or found I was missing birds due to predators. I've sure put a LOT of use to the live trap I bought. The old one wasn't working right any more and I had to stop the losses. I have some black sex link chicks I bought at TSC and bought a few youngsters from a couple people too so I'd have some new blood/genetics added to the flock. The Sex Links are carnivores and terribly cruel to the younger birds or any bird with anything they feel cause to peck it to death. (Those girls sure better be good layers or they are outta here! They got to go live with the Aracuana's who have been rough on new birds added to the flock and they now rule the Aracuanas!)

All that being, my Brahma chicklets have matured to nice pullets. I only have 3 left. I had gotten 2 from a gal near me and hatched out a few. All 3 are really pretty, and very friendly. I really like this breed so far. I need a Brahma roo for them as I'll be keeping them!

Last week they really "made my day" a few times. They have started to lay! I'm getting a small brown egg every other day. I've had a lot of chickens over the years and went a few years without any. That being, it surprises me a bit but I've been so excited over having eggs from chicklets that I hatched and raised. What a NEAT thing it's been. Each of the eggs has been such a neat gift and made looking for eggs exciting again. The older hens have all quit laying so it's especially nice to have a few eggs again! It's just plain fun too.

I don't expect the young Cochins to lay til Spring as they are slower developing. I'll be looking forward to them starting come February or March. The beginning of this year I think I started getting a few eggs in February and by March was getting a nice increase.

Considering my electric bill and the low percentages of successful hatched eggs, I have decided to go ahead and buy a Genesis 1588 incubator. That's the one that many many people recommend and those with cabinent incubators like to have one to use to help out. I'm hoping that it will reduce my electric consumption and increase the percentage of successful hatching. I had a bit of a hard time with all the eggs that didn't hatch. Some were blanks, but many had chicks that died at some point in their development. I know I'll be much happier with a better incubator and I'll not have to have as many attempted hatches.

Maybe I'll be able to get a small flock of the Jersey Giants going with a better incubator. And a better hatch for the pair of Silver Laced Cochins, and the pair of Favorelles and some turkey eggs, and........ Oh, I also want to get a start on a few mottled Cochins, white Cochins, Columbian Cochins, calico Cochins, buff Cochins, and..... Geez, there is so much I want to do!

Did I tell you how much I've enjoyed this cycle of life?

Fall Farm News & Update

About that news I wanted to share the other day....

I finally have slowed down enough to have time to share it! I've soooo many outside chores, things to do ASAP, and Winter preparation, that I've been very much over whelmed. Add to that the house (inside) is a DISASTER; and hubby now has a couple more sores on the foot that is going through the bone disintergration and amputations, I had to do something and it had to make a difference. So, it was time and I did know and acknowledge it.

First, my problem was the size of the goat herd was paramount. I was milking 6 does a day and was feeding most of that to the kids (old enough to be weaned) and poultry. I was only saving enough for my morning milk and anything else planned that needed some of that lovely milk.

My 2nd problem, and a huge one for me, was who goes! I had a few I knew were going but I was ready to cull the herd much deeper and into my favorites and upcoming doelings I REALLY would like to have kept another year to see how they develop. One of the reasons is a doe normally has aprox. 6 kiddings in her life time. (I sure hope I have the above average who can go 10 or more!) That's not a lot.

So to breed with good goals and ethics, I feel responsible to know what my doe is going to produce and how that udder will develop! There's a lot to be determined in breeding well. I don't want to just breed, I want to breed well and do the very best I can for the goats involved and especially the offspring! I want them to be the type of goats that one insists on keeping when they down-size their herd! I want them to be favorites and have enjoyable personalities too.

That being, I don't have a lot of kiddings to use and to learn what they will produce so I need to keep a few kids for a while to know. I did learn a lot about what Kendra and Claire now produce by having Raquel, Danika, and Cinnamon on my milkstand. The similarities were interesting and distinguishable. They were sired by Arthur, a Nubian, with an outstanding personality. I didn't know what he did for his offspring in the udder department and wasn't pleased with what I got. The 3 DID get the production and also good personalities from their dams. There were similarities to their dam's in udder conformation but enough of a backwards step to know that Arthur wasn't a buck to be considered an "udder buck"! I also learned my 2 does will produce producers but need help in the udder attachments! The capacity came along, but I want better attachment for an udder that is producing 3+ quarts of milk a day the first kidding! That udder needs to stay suspended on their 6th lactation (6 being the average # of kiddings for a doe)! If not, the teats will be dragging on the ground and stepped on! NOT good at all. I did also learn that my does will put good teats and orifices on a kid and all 3 FF's (first fresheners) had GREAT teats that were easy to hold and milked out quickly and easily due to good orifices. I sure learned alot!

The only problem with not keeping any of this year's doelings (and they were NICE) from Nipper (ND buck/first kid crop) is I won't know what he adds to the kids in udder development, production, etc. His kids were NICE. I REALLY wanted to keep at least one, with that being Jolene! But, I HAD to make some decisions and I had to lighten my work load significantly. So I decided I had to "grin and bear it"!

My decisions ended up being I put 15 of them up for sale on Craigslist. Some were my dairy kids and the 3 FF does, and some from my Boers. I cut into the herd DEEPLY! I also decided to part with Daisy. She had a difficult kidding last year as far as engorging, dropping tooo much weight (she had trips so not surprising), foundered (I blame myself), didn't regain good weight upon weaning, and I just plain don't know enough about dealing with foundered goat feet. Hubby had been doing her trimmings and I missed noticing the laminitis flare-up quickly enough. Daisy has always been a lazy gal and she has always taken over her feed tub and laid down to enjoy her dinner! It's hard to see feet in a herd and then when they settle down if one is going to lay down to eat. (Macy & Monique do the same and are her 3/4 sisters.) She developed those "elf feet" and I kept trimming on her weekly but was get down to very near to bloody without getting them short enough. I was told by a few seasoned goat folks not to make them bleed, just trim and "let them be". I'm not happy with the outcome at all. My decision was to find someone who knew more than I, and I would give her away (which I did). (She didn't go on the Craigslist ad as I wanted to do the best I could for her.)

I ended up with a great opportunity for Daisy (who is a sweet gal)! The guy who bought the 15 I had for sale seemed to know more about feet than I do (he's a cattleman) and thought he might be able to turn her around over time. He also has a young guy near him who was wanting to learn to trim goats, etc. as income. So this seemed to be an ideal situation for Daisy. She'll be a pet and have a couple people working on her feet who should be able to do much better for her than I can. I've learned a whole lot about triming feet but I've learned to trim healthy and "good" feet. Daisy never has had "good feet" from the time we got her. I do find it much easier to trim horse feet as they don't have the 2 "claws". You balance THE foot and only have one to work on at a time which is 4 parts and not 8 plus balancing them together! The angles are also quite different for goats! So Daisy is in a better place for her well-being. The 16 went together so had "moral" support and their buddies to keep them less stressed.

I also enjoyed meeting the guy who bought them. He's just getting into goats, still has cattle and horses. He seems VERY nice and I feel they have a great home.

There was a down side in this though and I have been very upset over that! Danika had a teary eye the day he came to see them. I checked her eye and saw nothing but it was tearing. I started her on othalmic antibiotics and thought she probably had gotten a bit of a poke from a weed. Goats love the browsing in weeds and brush and she had come in with several cockle burs/burdocks that afternoon. I kept her on the eye drops to make sure she was doing ok. Her eye did get a blue hazy look but the eye drops seemed to be clearing it up well. I did show it to the guy and had pointed it out when he came to see them. Unfortunately, Danika has lost her eye. I was very upset to learn that upon buying them that the guy had a vet bill. She will be fine, but I was upset that it looked to be improving and there was a piece of burr that had entered her eye and gotten in deeper than my eyes could see. She's now doing great but I'm still embarrassed and upset with the situation evolving during a sale from me.

That being, I'm now down to less than half my herd!

I have a new home for Lady Bug's 2 doelings. These are also Nipper kids. Lady Bug, June Bug and Nipper are staying. They were a gift I GREATLY cherish and all 3 are such nice goaties to have and be around. They are sweet natured and just plain well-put-together. Lady was VERY easy to milk when she kidded and continues to have a very well conformed and attached udder. Her doelings are adorable as kids and NICE.

Kendra and Claire are staying of course! Spirit and Becca are staying. Those are my Alpine milkers.

Nipper and Bandit are staying. They are Nigerian Dwarf and Alpines.

Macey and Mo'Nique are still here. They are 75 or 88% Boer and the other 25/12% are Alpine. I really like these 2 does a lot. A goal hasn't been set for them but if all else fails, I can milk them. I have milked Macey. Hubby isn't sure he wants to part with all the Boers so these 2 will stay while he's debating. The only thing I don't care for about them is that Macey is a screamer and Mo'Nique a "bawler" when they see me step out the door. As soon as they get fed, they are quiet again. They are very personable and cooperative. Macey's twin boys are really nice. Mo'Nique never kidded. She'll get another chance as Bandit broke into the barn and their pen when they were in heat. Those chaos moments were just that - CHAOTIC! He sure got a lot of "on-the-practice" in his several escapades! I guess I named him right! That boy can jump from standing still onto a 5+' ledge to break into the barn without blinking!

That will leave me with only 10 for the Winter. I'm now only milking only 2, Kendra and Claire.

Spirit is drying up. Becca is the only 2010 doeling I have kept back. She's Spirit's daughter and from a buck at Udder Paradice. Becca's a BEAUTIFUL doeling and her twin, Bandit, is a very handsome buckling. I changed my direction slightly for mini Alpines. Spirit and Becca will be Nipper's does and Bandit will have Kendra and Claire. Becca has spent the night in the buck pen with Nipper. I'm afraid Bandit may have "done the deed" with his dam, but I'm hoping with low odds that she didn't settle. I won't hold my breath on this chaotic, bad-boy moment!

So, it's been a very difficult decision to make and difficult re-evaluation of my goals and breeding plans. I said good bye to a few goats who I'm going to miss greatly. That being, in the decision making, I did a head count and realized that if Bandit has bred all the does he broke into pens with, I will probably have 16 kids coming the middle of March! I highly suspect almost all the does will kid within a week of each other in cold, wet weather unless my "wishes" come through and he wasn't able to settle them all! I have NO doubt that he'll have brought a lot of really good genetics to my breeding program (thank heavens) so it may get chaotic again, but at least he's a high quality buck! (I would really like to take Nipper and Bandit to a goat show as I think they both have the potential to do well. I'll have to see how things are going in the spring and IF the shows will have buck classes for them with enough entries to make it worthwhile.

I'm still going to miss Latte, Coffee Bean, Jolene, Justin, Burglar, Mason, Clifford, Chelsea, CarrieAnne, Daisy, Buttons, PattyCake, Raquel, Danika, Cinnamon..... and just maybe that rascally Buckley a bit! I wish them well and hope that their new owner enjoys them half as much as I did. I hope they do well for him with his plans. He said he's keeping them all and they will be pets. He has someone who is milking the 3 does and wanted some goat milk. And, yes, I told him that Bandit managed to break into their pens also and have a romp with them as they came in heat.... He laughed.

I Voted!

I hope you will too! It's a big election and especially so here for our governor position as well as the national level. The competition for our senator has been a huge one as well and not very nice. Politics seems to have become a very competitive and nasty affair. I find it disheartening that these people who are wanting the political positions side with their party rather than serve from their heart for what is best for all of us instead of half of us. I also find it scary that so many who are new to the country believe all the ads which have so much distorted info. I've noticed they believe what they hear instead of researching where something came from and past history. I'm also disheartened that the media has so much potential to sway voters' opinions and decisions. In spite of that I feel it's important to vote. I also find it appalling to hear what a politician spends to campaign. That money could be better spent creating jobs, funding food banks, etc instead of fancy, slick trash in my mail box. So I make sure to vote.

You're welcome to take a copy of the graphic. Click it to get the full size and copy away.

Tomorrow I hope to have some good farm news!