Today I felt much better so I went out to the barn. The snow has melted, and we had a few days of rain, (which is highly unusual) so the whole barn, not to mention that area of the pasture, is flooded. Yuck. Nothing like 5 horses standing in the puddles and relieving themselves all day. Green stinky mud.

Our neice is here for a week or so, and so the girls are enjoying the horses every day. The new tack that was under the tree this Christmas is getting broken in! There's also another pair of hands to help with the chores! Shoulda had more children! I keep saying that. It's true. The older your children get, the more you wish you had. I love newborns and I love older children. It's the in between of those two that tire me out. That and the 50-80 pounds I gained each pregnancy. That's just the last few months too, 'cause the first 3 1/2, I throw up non-stop! I'm kind of a small person, so it's pretty funny to see me get so huge. Not funny to my husband, but everybody else!

Anyway, I had to move some of the goats around to different pens and this is not always easy, especially in the mud. Goats do not like to get wet or messy. I had to drag them through the mud. Next year we will have better shelters in all the pens before winter hits. The barn is just too small to accomodate all the goats at once. The Boers are bullies and need to be fed separately, and the bucks need their own pens for obvious reasons, too. We have plenty of pens and a 10 acre pasture, too. We lack roofs for them though!

In the mail today came two treats- The Seeds of Change catalog and my Dairy Goat Journal magazine. I have to admit that I have subscriptions to lots of magazines and newsletters. My husband and children have quite a few too. They are all informative though, and I see them as tools and education, so I don't fuss about the $$. I need to spend January going over my seed catolog and planning for the garden. This is my weakest area- no talent plus a desert climate. Two things against me. Then there's marauding chickens and male dogs that lift their legs on my plants!

For dinner tonight we had egg noodles, pork roast, ciabatta bread toasted w/ olive oil, spinache salad loaded w/ veggies, and for desert sliced apples to dip in my home made goat milk caramel sauce.
Here's the best dressing ever- and it's good for you, too.

1 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups cold pressed evoo (olive oil)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
2 TB Italian seasonings (I buy the big container from Costco)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 small red onion
Blend in the blender until creamy. It's very good for you and has a nice kick. You might not love the color of it, but the balsamic vinegar adds a rich, sweet touch that is divine.
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