farm life , bits of my whole life.....................

It was not quite a month ago when we returned from Liberia and my "almost favorite" Toggenburg doe, Morning Glory, was overcome by a" super- pregnancy" and pro-longed birth of quadruplet babies and I lost all 5 of those beautiful goats , and a few days later when my Alpine, Satsuma, had her triplets. Those goats are doing just fine. Satusma is an incredible milk producer, and the two doe babies, Tulip and Lily, go to their new home tomorrow. Their brother, Moses Pork Chop, will stay here for maybe obvious reasons... Satsuma produces about two gallons of milk a day!The late Morning Glory was almost that impressive last year after her first "freshening" or kidding and I was excited to see how she produced this year. BUT, today her daughter, Sunflower gave birth to twins. Beautiful babies, a girl and a boy whose names are Rose and Ribs. (See the pattern here?) This is her first time to kid so I don't know if she will be continue the impressive milk producing line of dairy goats that I have been breeding since I bought the Grand Mamma of Sunflower and mamma of Morning Glory: Miss Brownie. Brownie is due again shortly too, with twins of her own. Gotta love ultrasound and my mobile vet clinic !!!!!
I sold a very sweet doe last year who had triplets for me, but who only produced about 2 quarts a day, tops. For this little farm that was not worth the feed for the goat. The family who bought her is THRILLED to get between 1 and 2 quarts a day, so I am glad she worked out for them. I have been spoiled by super producers and I tend goats to produce and sell milk. We sell quite a bit of milk, consume a lot, freeze what's left over for later on; nothing goes to waste! The funny part is that I buy cow milk for the bottle fed baby goats after they reach 5 days old. Cow milk is cheaper than goat milk and they digest it just fine. When I have extra unsold goat milk the babies may get some of that back, so it doesn't get old. I have made cheeese and yogurt, but don't do so regularly, mostly due to time constraints but I have friends who do cheese all the time. I have a customer who buys 6 gallons at a time just for cheese. We milk, team style, every morning before school and every evening after dinner, rain or shine, heat or snow. The only time I don't process the milk after we bring it in is Sunday mornings when Charlie does it for me, so I can get ready for church. Everyone knows the routine and it moves pretty smoothly. Isaac is my best milker, and Jael, we found out is a real "sleeper" when it comes to rapid efficient milking abilities! Isaiah brags a lot and Noah does his best to avoid milking so we assigned him to the chickens. Eveyone helps me, even the younger girls , when we have 3 or 4 or more does in milk.
OK shifting gears, I have come to really love NBA basketball. One of my favorite players , Chauncey Billups, who now plays for the Denver Nuggets, just helped lead his team to a terrific victory in a play off game over New Orleans Hornets by scoring 30 points in this game! I like Chauncey B. so much that I named my last Basset Hound after him!
I am also excited because after I recommended CRAZY LOVE to a dear friend , she read it, loved it, and got it in CD version and loaned it to me for Charlie. Charlie is not a big recreational reader, and there is just not time enough for me to read it to him when he is home, even though he might like that...maybe, sometimes.......... ANYHOW, I really wanted him to be able to read it, and with Jenny's CD copy, he can listen on his way to and from work!!!! Can't wait to give it to him!!! I am so charged by Francis Chan's book and his incredible use of scripture within his gift of writing, I wish that everyone could read it.If people only read the scriptures he writes about, they would be challenged to be renewed and transformed. How God inspires him to write about God's RELENTLESS LOVE is not something to be turned away from lightly!!!My copy of GODLY MAN should arrive tomorrow too and I am very excited to read that next. Chan talks about some people in the end of his book and references Brother Yun. THAT made me doubly excited to read the man's story!
OK, the vegetable seedlings are ready to plant tomorrow, the weather is perfect, the seed corn and beans are ready to put in, the garden is tilled and composted and I am ready to be rested and putting in our new garden!! All the flowers out front are beautiful; new geraniums went in tonight to replace the waning tulips and compliment the now -exploding -with-purple blooms- clematis, the dianthus and petunias and peonies. The rosemary just smells divine!!!!!After school, Bible time and prayer and read aloud (Sing Down the Moon, this week) we will PLANT! (oh and castrate/ band Moses Pork Chop). I will also try to get my mom her spring wardrobe which I washed and sorted out for her today so I can switch out her nursing home winter clothes for the warm weather things...NO promises on that...........seeds and soil are calling tomorrow............................................sorry mom!!!