Lancelot Acres

Well, life is moving right along around our homestead.  We have many goats with big bellies (that were a bit miserable in our -20 degree windchills!).  They are due to start kidding around the first of March I believe, and we should have a steady stream of babies coming once they start.  It seemed they all went into heat one after another, day after day...LOL.  I love kidding season, it is such a pleasant time.  Even if bottle feeding becomes necessary, how can you NOT love to feed the babies?  Even if it is every 4 hours around the clock for a week or two?  (I say that now...LOL).

I do love bottle babies though, they are so very lovable (as are all babies though).  DD5 was so attached to our bottle babies last year that she cried when we sold them.  We told her that they had to go to a home where people needed goats, and that we had plenty already.  This worked and she was ok with it.  Especially when we explained that we would have more babies every year for her to play with.

This was Rocky, he was a bottle baby from 2005, I don't have a pic of our bottle babes from last year on my computer...yes, that is in my kitchen...it was -10 degrees outside.  LOL

She is also excited this year as I told her she could pick out a few chickens from the McMurray catalog to raise for her own.  She has gone through that book hundreds of times and has her little selections marked with an 'X'.  LOL.  She asks me every day when our chicks will be here.  I keep explaining that we have to wait for the warmer weather, but she just isnt' buying that...she says we can raise them in the basement until the warm weather arrives.  LOL.

This was a batch of chicks we got in 2004.  We brood them in plastic totes in our basement. 

We are currently going over the hatchery catalog and plan to purchase 50+ meat birds as well.  We usually get the Jumbo Cornish cross, and I believe we'll do that again.  We were happy with the last batch we raised...they were so BIG when we had them processed.

I'd like to order some guineas too, but they have a minimum 30! breed purchase on them.  I could get a few of each color I guess, but that is SO many birds!  I know I can make my money back by selling them at auction later in the summer, so I may go ahead and do that.  We have one lonely white guinea right now and she really needs some friends.  Ok, she thinks she's a chicken, but still...

Our temperature is finally out of the negative so the critters are starting to circulate a bit more.  We were worried there for a few days as we weren't even sure they'd trek over to their water bowl.  DH trampled a path for them through the snow (from hut to feed to water) and they just looked at him like he was insane.  LOL

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Baby is doing ok...but having some sleep issues.  I'm not sure if it's her teeth or tummy, or a growth spurt.  She wakes often at night right now and wants to nurse all night...crying when taken off.  That being said, she isn't really 'eating', she's just sucking, like a comfort suck.  I'm not sure what to do for her.  We sat in the recliner for several hours last night, but I get pretty tired when we do that.

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School is going ok.  Tuesday was tough, I've found that Tuesdays are going to be our hard day...first day of the school week, first day home from the grandparent's, I'm not sure.  I've decided to just take it laid back and do what we can, when we can, during the day.  I was trying to get school done during baby's first nap, and maybe that was our problem.  Now we just start school during nap, trying to get through Phonics at least, as I feel that is important to do while the house is quiet.  Then we just work on school until we are done...if baby is awake, she sits on the table and watches, or plays on her baby mat.  It doesn't seem to bother DD5, so I guess it's fine.  I was worried about the distraction. 

After Phonics (which I do insist we do first, as it's the base of our schooling), I let DD5 decide what she wants to do next.  We've done that two days now and it has worked great.  She chooses which subjects she wants to do and in what order..she loves it and it seems to motivate her.

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Today will be an 'off' day.  We have our Family Links lady coming at 9AM...that's when we usually start school.  This lady is paid by the state and she comes and gives me activities to do with the baby that are age appropriate.  She came for YEARS for DD5, but the program is only good until they turn 5...so now it's about baby.  The lady is really good about it though and always brings activities for DD5 to do while we talk and discuss baby. 

She comes every two weeks.  Last time she came we just did school afterwards, and we'll probably do that today too.  Baby is off schedule though and her morning nap is going on right now instead of at 9.  She was up squirming a lot last night (gas?) and we were up for the day at 6AM instead of the normal 7:15ish.  So now she's ahead of her normal schedule...not a big deal, but I think she'll sleep through the Family Links visit.  LOL.

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My parents are coming for a visit today.  They like to take DD5 to her ballet class on Thursday evenings.  They come early and spend most of the day here.  It's nice for me as I have a bit of help with the baby so I can get some housework done (or sneak in a nap if needed).

Ok, I'm off to straighten the kitchen and switch laundry...

Have a great day everybody!

Your life...

{ 06:40, 2007-Feb-10 } { Posted by happywife }

I was just reading your blog and I really enjoyed hearing about the baby goats and your daughter (#5). :) How sweet. I would love to have so much space around me someday and be able to have goats and chickens!!! However, it doesn't look as though it will happen anytime soon, lol.