LAST BUT NOT LEAST - AMEN

Athena delivered March 21.

And that means we are finally all done.

This one is THE PERFECT END.

And her name is......

"AMEN".

Bethlehem delivers!

Bethlehem had a little trouble delivering these two.

She was able to do it by herself but it was a struggle.

She had a buck and a doe and I am worried about the buck.

She will nurse him if we are there but she pushes him away otherwise.

We will have to keep a close eye on them.

Goats, Goats, Everywhere!

Ester and her triplets.

Amos, next to his mom,

Angel and Asher.

From left to right:
Amos, Angel and Asher.
They prefer to lay on anything besides the ground.


Sarah feeding Asher a leaf.

Sarah feeding Delilah a leaf.

In the foreground is Cadabra.
Her twins are left to right:
Adagio and Allegro

This photo really shows the difference between the Nigerian Dwarf breed and the Toggenburg breed. Our LaManchas are full sized goats just like our Toggenburg, Delilah.

Fruit Pizza

This is my first attempt at "Fruit Pizza".

It didn't go over too well.

The main suggestion was to change to cream cheese frosting to ....

...something chocolate maybe...

I need to research this.

Stay tuned for attempt #2.

CAR LINE

This is where I spend a good portion of every day.

CAR LINE

With 5 children in 4 different schools it is one solid car line.

I was never more thankful than when my oldest two began to drive.

But they still need me to fill in the gaps most weeks.

And this is what keeps me sane.

Books on tape.

Needlepoint.

Today's mail.

Knitting.

Yesterday's mail

Photo projects.

(Like trying to get a picture without any license plates.)

Anything but sitting...

and waiting...

and waiting...

But it is all worth it.

To see their smiling faces coming straight to my car,

brimming with all their news, information, and questions.

My children!

Life is good.

(despite all the car lines.)

Little Asher

This is Alex feeding little Asher some grain.

He is a sweet kid and going to a good home once he is weaned.

(...the goat, that is.)

Recently, Alex filled us in on his trip to Costa Rica.

He is going to let me publish a few pictures from that trip soon.

I sure missed him while he was gone...

... and worried he would be bitten by snakes,

(why else would they have me buy him "Snake Gaiters" for the trip?)

or spit on by poisonous frogs,

or lost in the Rain Forest.

I'm glad he went and had a great experience.

I'm glad he saw wonderful things.

But it is great to have him back home.

Safe and sound.

He is a GREAT kid

(...the goat too)

and I love him so.

Wheelbarrow Races

A new Olympic Event?

6 PLUS INCHES OF RAIN !

Over the Bank

Wet and Low

Wetter and Lower

Soggy and Boggy

High and Dry

The weather today has been very wet.

And this is the Dry Season.

We had over 3 inches before 6:00 AM.

By 1:00 PM we had another three to match that.

And then the stalls in the old barn flooded.

This is not good news.

And it is unheard of in March.

This is something I expect in hurricane season.

And it just won't do.

Because I have 4 goats back there.

Two of them should deliver any day.

And have I ever mentioned.......

Goats DO NOT like to get wet.

So I am praying for the rain to stop

.......or at least slow down.

And I have got to get creative with goat sleeping arrangements tonight.

My high and dry barn is filled to maximum with all the does and kids

(6 does and 8 kids plus the horse)

and I have to make room for more.

This is just one of the perks in my small farm life.

Thinking of all the animals in my care

at the same time that I'm planning dinner.

Should I make burgers or spaghetti?

ORANGES

I drive by this orange tree every day.

At least 8 times.

And every day I say to myself,

"It's time to harvest those oranges."

So today, we actually had the time to do it and what a full basket!

Anybody for fresh OJ ?

Lightning

Here's our beautiful wether, Lightning, at 24 days old.

He is still so gorgeous and sweet.

We can't wait to see the other LaMancha kids.

And neither can Lightning.

We are trying to be patient.

But spring is in the air.

And Lightning needs some cousins to play with.

Sarah at the fair.

The fair is done,

and we are happy for the ribbons won.

The people are tired,

the animals too,

we are going home

and will be glad for nothing to do;

for a day or two.

Then we'll be ready to work

and play and get in gear

for all the grand things

we'll do at the fair next year.

Ranae says Goodbye.

Ranae said "Goodbye" to Piggy Sue today.

Her 4-H project has been sold to the highest bidder for $7.00 a pound.

It was bittersweet.

We are going to miss almost everything about that pig.

Except Ranae won't miss getting out of bed when it's 40 degrees and raining to feed her.

Cadabra has twins !

I came home a little early from the fair today to make the barn ready for all the goats to come home the next day. There were pens to clean, shavings to put down, and supplies to make ready for the 6 babies and three adults coming home from the fair.

Well, I am glad I was home early because Cadabra thought it would be a great afternoon to have her twins! She had two does and they are the cutest, smallest little girls we have ever seen.

Stay tuned for their names.......I haven't run out of ideas yet.......

I just need to narrow it down to two.

(This means there are only two more goats waiting to give birth on our farm!)

STILL NAMING GOATS

Well, we finally came up with names for Ester's triplets too.

This is Ranae in the "Ask Me Booth" at the fair holding AMOS.

We named his brother, ASHER, and his sister, ANGEL.

NAMES FOR GOATS

Since Little Dot had her kids at the fair,

and since she had three of them,

we got clever and named them, from right to left:

"LEE" "COUNTY" and "FAIR".

Everything at once.

I know we are not alone in this.

Doesn't everything seem to happen at once?

First there is the fair, which means we are feeding animals in two places every day and we are traveling after school every afternoon to the fair trying to do homework and eat dinner in the car. But on top of that my young one gets pneumonia. And then besides that, my car A.C. thermostat fails which means in 40 degree weather we have no heat on those long car rides to and from the fairgrounds.

And then the septic at the house has a problem.

(Maybe I just won't go into details on that one.)

But what can you do? We just keep plugging along. I can be a good juggler at times. We are all o.k. and having fun. Just a little tired but with big, dusty smiles on all our faces at the end of the day. It could always be worse, right? It could always be busier, right?

Is that the oil light on my car?

Oh, boy.

Special Delivery

Little did we know that Little Dot was pregnant this year. She is 5 and has never kidded before. We thought it was just not in her future. I've been running her with our Nigerian Buck for two years with no results. So she went to the fair, like always. Now, when Kevin was clipping her for the fair he noticed that she was in milk and that pretty much confirms that she will kid soon......... and, lo and behold, it was soon. She had triplets at the fair on Wednesday, March 3rd. Two, big, beautiful does and one, big beautiful buck. Way to go Little Dot! She picked a time when no one was watching and had them all dry and cleaned up before you know it.

We are thinking up cute names on the spot.