That Last Hour

If you get up early in the morning, you understand how important that one hour, before you get up, is. You cherish that hour. That's when you get your best sleep, right?  Last night as I was laying in bed wondering if I could make it that last hour without going to the bathroom, Skeeter (my weenier dog) decided that SHE need to go out. I threw back the blankets and went to let her out.

As I was waiting on her to come back in, ( I swear I do believe she took the long tour of the neighborhood.) I noticed that it was lightning. We have had thunderstorms skirt around us for the last few days, so I just assumed that that was what it was. FINALLY Skeeter came back in. ( I do believe she was wearing a lei.) I went back to bed thinking that I could get in the last 45 mins. Then I remembered the lightning. I had clothes on the line. ( Don't judge me! They were still damp!) I figured that if it was just going to be a small, gentle rain, I would leave them out there. I love the feel of clothes that have been rained on. (Or at least I HEARD that they feel good. Cough, cough.) So I check the radar and notice that we had some pretty good storms coming our way. So I get back out of bed and go out and take the clothes down. (Yes, they were still damp.)

I go back in the house and hang them on chairs and door knobs all over the place so that they wouldn't get that moldy smell. Ok, MAYBE I can get the last 20 mins of sleep in.( Hey, sleep is important!!!!LOL) I go back and lay down. Then as I snuggle back under my blankets, I remember my poor little tomato plants that were sitting on the back of our four wheeler. I had put them outside yesterday so that they could get a little extra sun. 

I fling back my blankets and get up. Put on my house coat and go out and get my plants and bring them back inside. Maybe, MAYBE, I could get a little more sleep. I go and dry my feet off and get back in bed. I just lay down and get comfortable and........Yep, you guess it. The alarm clock went off.

I guess it's time to get up.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, sleep deprived.

Got Milk, Again?

That's right folks, I'm milking again!!!! (I'm not the one giving the milk. That would be my goats. Just to clear that up.) I'm back to the twice a day schedule of going out and getting the goats up on the milking stand and getting that Ooooohhhhh so good milk.

  I enjoy milking. It's very relaxing. Spending time with just you and your goat. But........(you knew that was coming didn't you? lol) I have this goat that has freshened for the first time. Her name is Gracie. ( As soon as I get my camera, I'll be get a picture of her on here for ya.) Gracie is a great milker. She hops up on the milking stand with no problem. She hops down with no problem. She stands like she has been doing this for years. But, she hasn't! And, for her first time of being fresh, she is giving a good amount of milk. The only problem that I have with her is that she has a teat with the hole not quite at the bottom of her teat. The milk squirts out the side while I'm trying to milk. Not just out the side, but right at me! So to milk her, I have to concentrate on aiming the milk at the bucket. So if I get to milking both teats at the same time, I end up squirting myself in the chest more than once. I usually just milk one at a time.  It takes longer, but I at least don't get a milk shower.

On top of her "off teat", Gracie lifts her leg up on that side whenever I milk. So as I'm trying to aim her teat into the bucket, I'm trying to keep her from putting her foot into the bucket. Geesh! I'm working up a sweat just trying to get milk! The first time I milked her, I ended up with milk on my chest and a foot in the bucket. Not a good day. lol.

Anyway, I really shouldn't complain. At least she isn't like Hanna. Hanna is my other Nubian who usually gives good milk, has GREAT, long teats, but goes psycho on me whenever I try to get her off the milking stand. She gets this "look" in her eyes that said, " Oh no!!!! I'm going to fall into the deep pit of despair!!!!!" She locks up all four legs and I have to physically turn her around on the stand, making sure she doesn't put a foot in the milk bucket, which she has done before, and then I have to pull her off. Once she is off, then she thinks shes being chased by a monster that will rip her face off. She throws that head back and tries to drag me back to the goat pen. I swear she has a mental problem. At least she made a good mommy this year. LOL! Got to love them goats!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, milker.

Goings On

When I was talking about getting "out of the chair," I didn't think it was going to be like this. Whew!!!! Finally kidding season is over. No more babies. Yea!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE baby goats, but for a first timer when it comes to kidding, I was a nervous wreck! But now, everything has settled down (a little).  And wouldn't you know it, I can't find my camera. I have GREAT opportunities for pictures of cute, little, bouncy babies, and I can't take pictures!  As soon as I find it you all will be bombarded with cuteness.

And for all of you in the Ky area that has been in a drought, " You are welcome." Yep, I have decided that I am the reason that we have been having so much rain. It's all because I don't have a place under shelter that I can milk my goats. Yep, I'm Millllllking in the Rain, I'm Milllllking in the Rain. What a Glorious Feeling, I'm Haaaaaappppy Again...... Ok, I'm done.

Another thing that has been going on around here is Lily has been sick. I mean, not sure she's gonna live, sick. We don't know what happened to her, but she hasn't eaten since Saturday. Although today, she started acting like she was feeling better and she actually ate some canned dog food. I think she will pull through. We were thinking that maybe she had been bit by a snake or the coyotes got to her.

Speaking of coyotes, they are HORRIBLE around here. Twice a coyote has come within a few yards of me in the last week. SCARY!!!!! Luckily George was right next to me and drove them off. He's a good boy. I think I'll keep him. lol. I just hope those nasty Coyotes stay away from my little baby goats.

Right now I have to go and get some more goat feed. They are eating it like crazy. But, I guess that's what I get for having 16(that's right folks, 16) goats.  And on top of this, we are looking into getting more Myotonic goats. We have decided that we just LOVE them. Great mothers, good personalities, and VERY easy to take care of. I'll still keep my milkers though. Gotta have that milk. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, no longer sitting in the chair.

Pictures and Deep Thoughts

Cuteness Alert!!!!! You have been warned.

Check out those blue eyes. He got them from his daddy.

Hey Mom, give me a piggy back ride.

Ok, since I got you all warmed up with the cuteness factor, hehehehe, now we can get into the deep thoughts. Have you ever wondered about what you want in life. Then you look at it and think, "Nope, not there yet." Well, I was reading a friend's blog( shout out toModern Day Redneck!)and he wrote about how some people are "Arm Chair Quarterbacks" in their prepping. They tell people what they should do, they criticize how they do it, yet they don't "do it" themselves. Well, I may not actually be an arm chair quarterback when it comes to prepping, I though about that phrase. "Arm Chair Quarterback." Then I looked at my life. I have been an arm chair quarterback. Not criticizing people or anything. But, not actually "in the game" either. I noticed that I keep saying that I'll do something then don't. Or, I'll WANT to do something and then don't.  Or I see someone do something and I think of how I wished that I can do that. Well, I CAN! I just need to "get out of the chair."

Another thing that I noticed about myself is that I need a schedule. When I was working, I kind of had a schedule. I knew that my time, to get that project done, was limited. It's not limited now so I keep saying, "Well, I do it later. I have time." But as I do that, I realize my life is passing me by. Things are not getting done. Now, dishes and laundry and everyday things are getting done. I'm talking about the extra things that need to be done.  Building fence, building goat barns, joining goat clubs, write more on my blog, etc. etc. I keep putting them off. It's about time that I "get back into the game"

So thanks MDR for giving me a wake-up call. Life's knocking. I had better answer the door.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, active quarterback.

Ebooks from Patrice

The season of canning will be on us faster than you know it. So if you guys would like to get a leg up on some really good information about pressure canning, water bath canning, or if you just have questions about canning, you need to go to selfsufficiencyseries.com.

Patrice from Rural Revolution, has made a series of ebooks that can be purchased for just a bit of pocket change but, is really full of information. I think it would be worth your time and money to visit the site and download some of the ebooks. Oh, and tell everyone else. The more people know about canning and preserving their own food, the better. Give them a try!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, canner

We have babies!!!!!!

This is Shotgun. He is a little buckling and was born first.

This one is a little doeling. Not sure what we are going to call her.

This a picture of Mommy the day before she had them. Doesn't she look like she is tired? I would be too!

I've been letting the girls out in the afternoons so that they could get fresh grass.

I think Hanna is wanting to have hers next. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, goat watcher.

More Rambling

What a great Saturday! Me and MIL went to an animal swap at a local Tractor Supply store. It was great! I sold a few goats, some rabbits and I broke down and sold my young milk cow Annabell.  On top of all of that, I had people asking for more! I finally feel like our little farm is getting off the ground. You can work and work, but until you see some money rolling back in, you always wonder if it's what you should be doing. Well, yesterday proved that I am doing the right thing.Now that I have a nice outlet for some of the farm things,(the auction is still trying to get underway, just waiting on some red tape junk.) I really need to start working toward getting more things to sell.

We are still waiting for babies to arrive. I swear if someone would look at my goats the wrong way, they look like they would pop. HAVE BABIES ALREADY!!!! I'm getting up a few time a night going out and checking on them. I think they really just have a pillow under their pelts, setting back and laughing at me. Fooled her!!!! Ha ha ha!

I think I've decided to change George's name to Bob. Bob BARKER!!!! He barks ALL. NIGHT. LONG! I think he's afraid of the dark. lol. It doesn't matter what it is, he's going to bark at it. Last night he was barking at the cattle. You know, the cattle that has lived on this farm longer than he has. Those scary, mean, ferocious cattle that like to eat goats. Auuggghhhh!!! I went out last night to shine the light out in the field, you know, out of some chance there IS a dinosaur, mutant, swamp monster out there. George followed everywhere that I would shine the light and he would bark at it. I think he has a screw loose. And right now, he's sleeping all nice and sweet. I think I will go and sneak up on him and bark my fool head off.  See how he likes it.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, I can't believe I'm barking at a dog. Now who's got the screw loose?