For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11-14

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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Busy days...

Life here has been a big blur lately, so much that needs doing, so much that doesn't get done....updating my blog is one of those things that has been left undone.

We've been busy with baby goats, putting in a garden, trying to stay on top of the weeds (the weeds are winning in some areas of our place), wrapping up our school year and trying to enjoy every ray of sunshine between the showers. It's been one WET spring...some say the wettest in 100 years, I for one believe them! The upside to all of the rain is things are growing...huge change from last year's spring where most of the garden and plants around it drowned in the rain and cold. It's been a bit warmer than last year, I think, and that has helped things grow. Gives me hope for our garden this year.

Another project that has demanded some attention is our pasture...we are expanding it! YAY!!! The hope is that we'll have our electric fencing up and functional in a matter of weeks, between my husbands busy work schedule and the rain, we are working slower than I would like. The fence posts are set and waiting the wire...all in due time. :) Once this pasture is ready, our goats will have even more forage to enjoy and hopefully will save us a bit on our feed bill this summer.

Our goat numbers are going to be going down soon, Lord willing. We've decided to downsize our herd and focus more on the smaller breed, Nigerian Dwarf. Our beloved Minikin will stay...she is the queen of the barn and none of us could bare the thought of her leaving. She'll live out her days here. Tinkerbel and her babies will all be sold. The hope is that we can cut back and save for a Jersey milking cow. While I LOVE my goats, we don't enjoy the milk as much as we do the cows milk....so we are transitioning our focus a bit. Who would have thought it would be so hard to sell a silly goat....some think I'm nuts, but I simply love my goats.

We've raised them for 7 years and they have become apart of our place here, apart of our lives. While I don't want to raise them for milk, we will keep the smaller Nigerian Dwarfs to fill the "goat need" and give us an animal we can breed and sell each year. If it doesn't work out, we are out very little in the end and have much of love in the mean time from these sweet animals. :) Thankfully, my husband is fully on board....he knows how much I love my goat babies. :)

Now the search for just the right cow for us will begin. I don't see us adding this animal to our place any time soon, but it is on the horizon...maybe in a year? I think we'll have a steer before we have a cow, and that's fine. Beef in the freezer is always a good thing!

So, while we've been busy planting, weeding, schooling and trying to keep up with the other household chores, it is suddenly June! Where did May go? My goodness! Praying your spring has gone well, that your gardens are growing and that you have a bright and sunny summer coming your way! School is out, for the most part in just a matter of days here. While we will be doing some school through the summer, we are all ready for the summer break. :)

3 comments:

Cinnamon said...

Yes where did May go? Where did the first half of the year go for that matter?

We've wanted goats at one time or another. I think my hesitation is goats and chickens is that we need a shelter for them. Then I'd happily get some of each. The kids would LOVE them!!

You are busy as ever and yes I agree it's been a wet spring!

~Cinnamon

momoflots said...

It's so good to see what you've been up to!!! I dream about living in a place where we can have our own cow!! But this is where God has put us so I'm learning contentment here! I very slowly but surely got my garden in - now it's just waiting for those little seedlings to show up - hopefully the warm weather the weathermen are predicting this weekend will appear and those seeds will sprout!! Are they saying it will be warm in your area? I'm looking forward to some sunshine on my face - hopefully while I'm snuggling a little new one!!!

Blessings,
Christine

Farmgirl Cyn said...

Would love to have enough room for a cow, but am content with bartering some sourdough goodies for 2 gal. a week!

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