Late Summer Berries, Goats and Garden

Last week we picked blueberries four days in a row. I picked over seventy cups - and now have over four gallons - about seven or eight gallon bags of portioned out blueberries in the freezer. We are not done picking, but have been taking a break to enjoy the garden and get some things done around the house. The berrries are big and plentiful this year. I'm hearing great blueberry picking reports from everyone.

 Here are my troublesome trio. Not really, but well compared to all my super amazing, well behaved "perfect" :) goats, yeah. Zinnia on the left, Clary her yearling daughter in the center and Dahlia, right. So far Dahlia is pretty great and I have no qualms with her. Clary is gorgeous, however, the kids and I have been working with her all summer trying to get her less jumpy and better handled, and she is just a flighty thing. My inner goat sense tells me she is not going to make a very easy milker, which is a bummer cause I just love looking at her. I'm thinking about cutting my losses and just selling her, but I've already fed her this long and she's ready to be bred, erg. I go back and forth every day. I have recently become addicted to making more room in the goat barn. It feels so good to cut the herd down to my very favorites and give everyone more room.

 Speaking of favorites. Here is my dear Zuri, who is the best behaved goat ever. She let eight small children take turns milking her recently without lifting a hoof; Best Goat Ever. Zuri has kidded twice without serious complications. She does not have the best conformation with her main defaults being her topline that is not level, and her rump is not as wide or gently sloping. That being said, she has an awesome udder with perfect teat placement and angle, large orifices and great behavior on the milk stand which makes her my favorite goat to milk.

Dustin had a surprise two day weekend. Instead of going on a family boating trip like we fantasized about, nor butchering chickens, which we should have done but are procrastinating, Dustin spent the days chopping firewood and I spent them weed wacking the garden. We spent the evenings with the kids in the garden, mostly playing croquet and watching the geese and chickens get into things they weren't supposed to, their favorite being the corn.

 Avery, standing by her sunflowers.

 Goofy kids.

Usually the rain starts right about the time the Delphinium bloom. I've lived here long enough to be really excited about this heat wave the last week in July. We don't always get eighty degree days this time of year. So we are savoring every one. This time of year is usually our rainy time, but I don't see it happening with the current weather trends we've been having. I think we are going to keep getting more sun and heat than usual, which is good as I just can't get enough.