I love walking in the peace and tranquility of the country! Sometimes I walk with my family, and sometimes I walk alone. I enjoy both kinds of walks for different reasons, but walking alone is one of the most tranquil moments in my day. Every year is different on the roads around us, as to which crops I will pass by, and where. This year I set out to being surrounded by fields of soybeans on my left and wheatfields on my right. The wheat in the early summer is a beautiful deep green, and when the breeze is blowing I love to see it swirl and sway, and listen to the sound of it's faint rustling.
Farther on I come upon deep green cornfields to my left and a dense forest to my right. It's hard for me to choose which way to set my gaze, for calling my eyes to the fields now in July, along with the waist high corn slowly sloping up the hill, is a hilltop covered with shining golden wheat. The two crops set next to each other make such a beautiful contrast with the evening sunshine glowing upon them, that it's hard to look away and into the dim brushy forest with a sunny glowing floor of moss and green leafy groundcover. Here the birds songs echo with a haunting sonance amongst the trees. It's a sound you can't quite describe, but can only experience. It's quite different than hearing them singing in the trees in my yard.
Also calling my eyes to the wood are faint crackles on the forest floor of squirrels and raccoons scurrying about, and the loud snapping of twigs as I glance up just in time to see a deer bounding off in the glow of the mossy tree-filled magic. I pause to pick and eat a wild blackberry off of the many shrubs lining the woods, and make a mental note to bring the children and ice cream buckets to this spot very soon!
Further on down the road a deer dashes right in front of me, and stops to stare at me when reaching the other side....often a momma is followed by one or two beautiful, tiny, spotted fawns.
Walking down the road my daughter lives on is another wonderful, yet very different experience. As far as the landscape seems to spread out around us on our own country road, it can't even compare to the appearance of depth, richness and vastness surrounding Lindee's home on **** Road. This tranquil dirt road makes its way through a dense forest about a mile to the north and south, but because the road is raised above the fields, it seems the farmlands go on forever, rolling their way out to the forest border. It's a beautiful thing to behold.
Best of all is to go walking after dark on a late June evening, because the feilds are aglow as far as the eye can see with fireflies twinkling in the night. In the dips in the road hangs a fine mist that smells wonderfully of minerals and rain. The quiet is almost deafening, since her home is so far out in the middle of nowhere, and you can't see any other homes in any direction but one. Past a tree line, a mile or so down, is a small Amish settlement. Most of the vehicles you see or hear passing by on any given day are horsedrawn, adorned with tiny smiling heads covered with bonnets or brimmed hats, and hands raised in a friendly wave. The deer are just as plentiful to view as they are here, and taking time to stop and watch them is a favorite pastime.
Another one of the highlights of our trip is the free big band dance at the Venetian Festival in St. Joseph. I love big band music! It's held on a lovely outdoor terrace on the bluff over the lake.
Here's the dance floor with the band behind
Here's Landon midair on his flip off the pier into Lake Michigan. Spending a day in St. Joe walking in the quaint shopping district is another annual part of out weeklong camping trip to Warren Dunes. By the end of the afternoon we are hot and tired and head down to the pier and beach for a nice cool swim in the lake!
Here he is jumping off the rail on the higher part of the pier
Over the River....
Someone asked for banana recipes...this is an all time family favorite here!
3/4 cup shortening (I substitute butter, but it doesn't taste quite as good this way)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1c mashed bananas
mix together and add:
1 3/4 c. quick oats
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 bag semi sweet chocolate chips
mix, and bake cookies at 325 for about 10 minutes....don't overcook!
What an awful job it's been, especially for Chris. When we started with our first goat we purchased a little electric fencing system called an electronet....what a joke! Goats are escape artists, so we soon put up a little more powerful and taller fencing system in our east pasture area which was all we had at the time. With the addition of a few more goats, and a horse, and 2 sheep, our kind neighbor agreed to let us use his large unused field to the west, and we fenced that in a few years ago which was a lot of work, or so we thought.... After a couple years of the deer constantly knocking that flimsy little fencing system down, we decided it was time to bring out the big guns. We drilled nice deep postholes, which contain big wooden posts, and also added some sturdier taller fence posts in the center areas. We even put up new gates that swing open which are so convenient compared to the wires we had to unhook to get in and out of the pasture before. Here are some pictures we snapped last evening of Chris and I running wire, and also with Carter who came out to help after he and Shannon finished their swim in the pool. All of the kids have helped with this project, including our son-in-law and neighbor, and it's finally finished! Miles of walking to run wire, lots of hard digging, cranking the wires tight, and jumping up and down off the bed of the pickup, and it's done!
We're starting work on the new fencing system so that the deer won't be able to knock our fence down all the time anymore. Taylor, our farm boy neighbor, is helping by bringing the tractor with the posthole digger....again..thank God for good country neighbors!
The milking is going much better now that Esther has adjusted to her overactive milk production during that first few weeks after kidding. We have our routine down, and we are taking our half gallon from her each morning before giving her back to her kids, who are growing by leaps and bounds, even with sharing milk with us! The kefir is turning out so much nicer with the goat milk....I love the way it foams and bubbles and tastes so creamy!
Here she is waiting to get in her milkstand!
Here you can somewhat see his rear view....looking more like a poodle than a sheep. Lindee's horse Ziggy, their pasture mate, is pictured with them.
I'm eating WHAT?!!!!
I'm finally starting to feel caught up on some things since having a lot of family staying here over the Memorial Day weekend. We had so much fun, stayed up late, and laughed like crazy as usual. It's always a lot of work and planning to have out of town relatives or friends staying, but it's always worth it! The amount of food we go through never ceases to amaze me, even though our own family amazes me by the amount we go through on our own! I'm usually able to send my city nieces into shock by announcing that the chicken in the salad is one we raised, or the beef barbeque is actually venison. They are also "grossed out" a bit by eating our fresh eggs. I can't figure it out, but it's always a good laugh to see the looks on their faces! Why would they rather eat things raised in squalor and shipped to Wal-Mart? They just don't think of it that way! Having a late, big country breakfast or brunch is always a good idea with a houseful of guests. It keeps us full well into the afternoon. That's the one nice thing about having so many laying hens...it keeps the frig full of plenty of eggs to use up. We eat a lot of eggs around here, and my kids are known to whip themselves up eggs for lunch many days.
The laundry got quite backed up and I've been working on that as well as spending a lot of time in the barn with our milk goat Esther who has had a touch of mastitis. She went through this last year also. It seems she just produces way too much milk in the early weeks after kidding, and the kids can't keep up on it. Even with us milking once a day and the kids on her 24/7 she still overfills until she looks like she'll literally burst! No wonder she won grand champion milker at the fair last year! It took Chris and I an hour to get one side milked out yesterday, and it took me 40 minutes another day, because her teats become so engorged. Yesterday I milked her a few times and massaged her udder really well off and on throughout the day. I'm also giving her an herbal immune support tincture and have ordered an herbal udder massage ointment. She perked up quite a bit from just doing this, and we were able to avoid antibiotics. We haven't been able to keep much of the milk, as she has been so sore, and kicking a lot. I ordered a hobble to attach to her legs and it came yesterday, so hopefully today we can keep the milk again. I don't pasteurize our milk, so it has to stay really clean, and any hooves anywhere near the top of the pan means no milk in the frig that day. The driving reigns for Nestor (last year's baby boy who needs a purpose to stay on the farm) also came with the package yesterday, so Carter will begin training him to line drive, and eventually to pull a cart (hopefully). How fitting since Carter's name means "cart driver"..lol!
Which reminds me of how I was thinking of all of my children's names and their meanings recently. I didn't name them because of the meanings, but because I liked the names. I really learned the meanings after picking them. My first daughter, Lindee's name means beautiful...very fitting and 'nuff said on that, and her middle name means "crown of laurel leaves"! My next son Landon's name means "from the open grassy meadow"...well he was the one who wanted goats here originally, and we are surrounded by their open grassy meadows where he has spent so much time. We didn't even know we'd move to the country and live among these open grassy meadows when he was born. Then there's Carter, who only found out he'd be a cart driver in the last year, and Shannon who was actually before Carter. Her name means "small and wise", and as a child she was one of the smallest things you've ever seen! She was so tiny that she was always thought to be a few years younger than she really was, and she was so wise when it came to figuring out ways to get what she wanted..lol! My name means "light", and all I can say, is I LOVE the sunshine so maybe that's the reason I have this name which I don't like!!
Mom amd dad made it back to the U.P. after their winter at their Florida home and their stop here for the weekend for Asher's big birthday bash, and our family Junebug festival....(don't ask! we're really weird!). My sister Laurie, her husband Joe, and kids, Sara, Courtney and Jordan and my niece Laura were also here. They all made it back safely to their homes in Ohio and Missouri, and we'll be starting plannning on our next get together soon. We always plan for months for fun activities, and outings etc. for when we have reunions. The kids will have lots of fun memories from the times spent with their cousins. I'll write about the crazy things we do, but may not post them so y'all don't know how weird we really are...lol!
Today my girls and I will be heading out to a bridal shower for a young lady who has been a friend of the family since we first moved here almost 12 years ago. There will be lots of friends there and we'll have a great time. My boys will be out on the lakes installing docks. Things are slowing down a bit with our dock business and we all feel like we can breathe again! Now we're just looking forward to time to take our own boat out on the lakes this summer. Here comes Chris pulling in with a dock shipment we sold that's ready to be installed today, and that's my signal to head out to the barn and get started on this weekends work.
Whenever we get new chicks for meat or eggs we always throw a broody hen in with them to help keep them warm. Some years we let the hens sit on eggs to hatch, but we have so many kinds of chickens that we don't really want any more mixed breeds. This year when I picked up a couple buff orpingtons and Isa browns and two ducklings at the farm store, Golde (pronounced Golda) was the lucky one who got to be their momma:-) It looks like everyone is enjoying it, even the ducklings who have grown now to be bigger than Golde. In this picture they could still pretend to fit under her wings:-) Golda is getting pretty old, so I don't know if she'll be with us next year. She's definitely earned her keep as a foster mom and egg layer all these years, as has Dovie another of our original banty chickens:-) Yente, Tzeitel, Tevye, (can you tell we're "Fiddler" fans?), and Chanticleer (he was the cutest, tiniest, most colorful rooster I've ever seen, and his little tiny crow was soooo cute!) also from that first group, are no longer with us. They helped contribute to our coop full of "mutts" by breeding with the various other chickens in the coop. We have some really strange looking birds in there!
Last night the kids and I took the baby goats out to my wonderful friends to be "disbudded". I hate nothing more than having that done to them, and there's no way I could ever do it myself! They seemed to fare pretty well with it, and I'm glad that's over for another year. We don't disbud the Boer babies anymore, but with milkers most people would never buy they with horns, and they are hard to milk when they have horns. I've been giving their mom her herbal wormer, and we'll probably put them out in the pasture today with the other goats for the first time since the babies were born. it's always so fun to see the little goats jumping a and running when they get that freedom for the first time. We're still waiting to milk Esther for ourselves until our milk share runs out at the other farm at the end of this month. I was able to trade for an extra gallon of milk for one of my Kombucha starters yesterday, so we have plenty of yummy, fresh milk which is so nice.....no hormones, antibiotics, or unatural processes going on with our milk:-) We have still been having to milk Esther down on one side, because the babies tend to only empty the other side. I hope they stop that soon, because it will make it a real pain if we have to go away!
My husband was given strawberry plants from a friend at work, so I want to get those planted today, also. I'd love to have our own berries of various kinds for all the jam we make around here. It's a pain to have to go other places to pick them.
Our baby goats now have names, and by the second day they were showing their personalities (already). The bigger one who seems to be the one who will have the wilder personality is Angelica, and the littler, calm one is Pearl. It seems whenever there are twins, there is one who loves people and is really calm from the get-go, and one who spooks a bit easier and will be more of a challenge. I'm enjoying my spring tradition of evening visits to sit in the straw in the goat pen, and bond with the babies. Momma Esther is sweet and loving to us as well as her babes, with lots of kisses, and nuzzles. She's such a good mother! I don't know if it's her breed (Saanen) or just her, but our Boers and Nubian were always a bit "snotty" to their babies at first.....kicking at them when they nursed, or moving away, and more worried about eating than the babies, it seemed. Some of them even ate during delivery! Wow, wouldn't that be nice! Esther, obsessed with her babies from the minute they're born, practically licks them to death, and I could tell Angelica was getting annoyed even in her first few hours..lol! Of course I wasn't sure how to feel about being included in this licking process, especially after seeing the stuff she had been licking not long before. Then I decided that I had already been covered in what we just call "farm goo" (which can cover a lot of different kinds of goo around here), during the transport of the babies from the pasture to the barn, so what did it really matter? If she wants to show me her appreciation with kisses, then who am I to reject that "goat love":-)
I've been having to milk her down on one side, as the babies are taking to nursing both on one side. Last years baby, Nestor, did that for awhile too, and I'm hoping they take to the other side, soon! My hands are already sore as they always are at the start of milking season. We won't start drinking the milk for a couple weeks yet. We like to let the babies get a good start, and then we'll start separating them from mom during the night, and milking in the morning. After some trial and error, we have decided this is the most convenient method for us. Milking twice a day was too hard for me, and keeping the babies on the mom enables us to miss a milking when we are gone, or go away all week, and let the babies take care of it. It also makes for much healthier babies, and I can't for the life of me understand taking the babies away, as is a common practice with goats. I've heard all the reasons, but they don't fit with my thinking of keeping things as natural as possible. We get about a half gallon of milk per day (give or take) which is enough for us. When we start milking two or three goats (once these little girls can be bred), we'll have enough to share with friends here and there, but still milk only in the morning. Having our own milk, eggs, and meat is such a blessing! I'm still hoping I can get someone to till me a small garden again this year (and help with upkeep) after having to let it go the past few years, so we have our own veggies again, too. Thankfully we have friends, and a daughter and son-in-law who give us produce from theirs.
Today I roasted one of our chickens for dinner, and also made some butter from the raw cow's milk we get from our cowshare. Once we start milking we'll let our share go for the summer. I won't be able to make butter anymore, since you can't make it from goats milk (without a cream separator). I'm hoping to find a place to buy some organic butter during that time.
I guess we got the pen ready just in time. The only problem was that we didn't get Esther into the barn in time, and she gave birth out in the shed in the pasture without us! We love to be there when the goats kid, but she did fine without us. I knew she was starting to look really ready, but we didn't see any of the signs of it being in the next couple hours. Within about 15 minutes to a half an hour of checking her they were both here. Shannon and I, who were the only ones home, got her and the babies hauled into the barn, cleaned up, dipped the umbilical cords, and made sure they nursed. Mom and babies are doing well. One baby weighs 8 lbs, and one 6 and 3/4. Average is 7 lbs. We had one baby boer (Darla) goat weigh 10 lbs at birth, once. She's the one who wins a lot of Grand and Supreme Grand champions at the fair. The mom of these two kids won grand champion milker last year. Oh, and wonderul news, they were both girls!!! More milk goats for our farm:-) I'll post more pics and names later. i'm heading back out to check on them again, now.
My favorite flowers are in bloom again! The house is filled with the scent of lilacs! I wish I could have them all year 'round because they smell so wonderful. After cooking a breakfast of whole wheat french toast with our farm fresh eggs and milk, we set off outdoors. We have lilac trees and bushes scattered all over our property, and a favorite springtime joy is wandering around gathering the flowers. This beautiful, sunny morning was the first time I was able to bring my grandson along on one of his grandma's favorite activities. His stroller served as the "lilac mobile".....very handy! I also sadly picked the last two tulips for the season to add to the vase of tulips on the dining room table. I love having fresh flowers in the house again!
He enjoyed the outing as he always enjoys our walks around the yard, but grew impatient waiting for me to fill all the vases when we wheeled into the house. I'll have vases full everywhere for the next couple weeks. I just love sleeping with the sweet smell of lilacs placed on my nightstand.
The view out front and to the west
The view over the back fence to the south
Over the back fence looking southeast
Jed, the barn cat, was being quite a nuisance when I was trying to photograph the deer out back tonight. He kept getting on the fencepost where I was resting my camera, and making me miss the good shots. I decided he was jealous and wanted his picture taken...what a ham! if you look closely you can see the deer behind him. Oh well.....the deer are always out there!
When a friend pulled in yesterday to pick up my son and her son for soccer practice, she did a bad thing. She had a box full of Golden Retriever puppies, and her daughter was holding one up where I could see it. I laughed, and told my oldest daughter about it, and said I wasn't going out there to fall for their trap..lol! Then the daughter held the puppy out the window..... and out I went. I am a softie for Goldens, and and am now down to one, after losing my best dog ever, (Bailey) a year ago last month. I still cry over missing him. We have Beamer (4 years old) to help with the loss, and I'm glad that I got him a few years before Bailey died, because it helps with missing him so much to know that Beamer, who was his buddy, is still with us. When Bailey turned 10, I decided it was a good time to get another one, since I knew he was getting on in dog years, and was already crying just knowing he'd likely be dying in the next few years. He lived to be 13, which is pretty old for a large breed dog. I did not come back in the house with a puppy, and I need to be stopped from doing so the next time my "sly" friend tempts me. Beamer came from one of her litters. and he's a really good dog, but I don't need a puppy around right now. I'm too busy, and have my baby grandson here too often. Somebody stop me!
Here's Bailey when he met my daughter's chihuahua Pedro. Beamer is in the background.
Trimming hooves is one of the goat chores I dread. Once we get them caught and get going, it's not so bad, but my hands usually end up quite sore! Of course milking keeps them sore, also, but I'm on break from that till Esther kids in May:-) I finally found a source of raw cow's milk (buying shares of the cow) and need to find time to make the drive to pick some up!
Fancy, one of our boer goats, is the hard one to catch, and also has the hooves that grow like weeds. If they get too long she does a prance-like walk, and we know that trimming is overdue! It was quite the sight to see, my husband and I trying to catch her today! After finally having to herd all the goats to the pen in the barn, which is a jaunt from the pasture, we finally caught her and got those awful hooves trimmed down! We ran out of time since she was such a bad girl, and Chris had to go to work, so will work on the other goats in the coming days. That silly goat knows when we want to do something to her, and won't be caught. If we are just in the field for spending a little time with them, she'll come and hang out to get scratched and petted easily.
Inside today, I'm working on steam cleaning the furniture, laundry, our homeschooling, of course, and will be picking up a friend's little girl, Abby, from the little country Christian school around the corner, soon. We'll keep her here for a visit, listening to her hilarious little stories, and just taking in her cute smiling face, and then bring her hom