Goat walks

At the end of a long but enjoyable Easter day of hosting, cooking, feasting and visiting, I don't have much energy for writing, but I have been thinking about you guys and wishing I had more time and energy for sharing. So, here a few pictures of the kids and I taking the goats for a walk down our driveway. For a while we were getting out almost daily for walks with the herd, then it got cold - below zero and I went back to doing chores by myself while the kids played legos or playmobile inside. As it warms up we should be getting back out together as we all need our exercise.

We sold another doe last week; Avalon, a three year old bred does went to a new home. I've been missing her this week. I was intending to sell her this spring or summer just because of my herd reduction desires, but she is just about the perfect goat. Not only did she have good conformation, udder and awesome teats, but she was a sweet doe, good with the kids, an easy kidder and a well behaved milker. We do have her dam, which is Xanadu, who is the brown doe in the picture with Noah. We also have her daughter who is a yearling. We are down to five does right now. I am milking one doe, once a day and getting a half gallon of wonderful milk. It is just a breeze to milk one goat once a day, and the rest of farm chores are so fast. I can get outside and back in before the kids notice I'm gone. We have two does who I believe are bred, Zinnia, due in April and Xanadu, due in May. Then two doelings to breed in the fall. I love these numbers. While farm chores will get lengthier as chicks hatch and goats kid, the summer is looking more simple and manageable than the last few years, so, whew!

Enjoyed our brined and smoked Easter ham today. We also had a butter lettuce salad with candied hazelnuts, pears, blue cheese and a meyer lemon white balsamic and pear vinaigrette that was fabulous. Followed by the ham main course with a golden beet salad, pumpkin butter rolls, roasted asparagus and a tasty ham dripping sauce, accompanied by lots of good wine and followed up with my Dad's notorious cheese cake. Yum. Wishing you all sunny days growing warmer, wherever you are.