Zero degree day

As I passed the thermometer on my way to do chores this morning, it read a solid zero degrees. In a few months that will feel warm to us, but today it feels pretty chilly, chilly as in if I hadn't kept a brisk pace through my tossing hay, opening doors routine, I'd have needed to come back to the house and put a jacket on over my sweater and Carhartt bibs. There are certain things you just can't get away with when it is zero outside; such as setting jars of milk out the front door for a few hours, leaving eggs on the front porch for a day or two until I get around to taking them inside to the fridge, leaving any liquids outside whether that is bottles of water in the car or a tank of water in the back of the truck, and as I learned this weekend, if you leave a freshly butchered pig in the back of the pickup, not only will it freeze solid (as I expected), but it will also freeze to the truck bed (I had meant to take a tarp or sheet with me but forgot). Now said frozen pig is hanging on our front porch until author's brother has time to break it down.

On Saturday I stood around at a friend's and at least helped with the planning of how to kill their pigs, who were free range around the property pigs that were not pen -able, (gotta love that - and a word from my own dictionary), without losing the remaining pigs in the woods. There were a couple flawed plans at first that we managed to nix, such as having three men with three guns each shoot a pig at the exact same moment - yeah, recipe for hilarious chaos I'm sure. Finally we just distracted the pigs with scraps and the two remaining didn't blink an eye with their companion was shot and gutted nearby. These pigs were much smaller than our last pig that we helped butcher, I think a third or at least half as big. This pig is maybe in the hundred and twenty pound range. A nice, manageable size. I'm planning on brining and smoking the belly for bacon and the hams. I've already scraped and cleaned the upper intestines for stuffing with sausage. And I pulled the head in to thaw to make headcheese, ahem, pork terrine. I think I'm going to try my first attempt at salami, something I've never been up for since I don't want to use nitrates, but we'll see how it goes.

On Sunday we butchered our last two geese, after taking their mother to a friend's house so she can live another year in the company of other Tolouse Geese. In exchange, hopefully I'll receive a dozen fertile geese eggs in the spring. I put one in the freezer for Christmas and the other I think we'll eat this weekend. I've got a bag of organs and fat in the fridge to deal with still, I'm thinking stock for the necks, hearts, feet and gizzards. Not sure about the liver, pate? Usually I'd cook it with rice for dog food.

Lately I'm not sure which I look forward to more, weekdays or weekends, as the weekends are filled with chores that need to get done, but aren't very enjoyable. The weekdays have become very routine. And I'll have to write about what the kids and I have been doing another day as it is past time to wake up the kids and get us going before we get behind on our day. In a few words here are our weekdays; fire starting, breakfast, candle lighting, song time. math, break, lunch, reading and writing, possible craft or kitchen project - whew - down time, then dinner time. whew!

The last of our Autumn pictures

Alas, these pictures are not recent. These are photos from August and September that I did not get a chance to share. Our world is white now. We have a few inches of snow, most likely here to say for oh, the next six months. We had our first snow a couple weeks ago - followed by a warm spell. About this time of year it doesn't tend to go away anymore. I cannot say that I am enjoying the snow with as much excitement and glee as the children. However, it is lovely coating the branches and sides of the tall bare birch trees. Today, the sun was shining through the glittery snow and woods. The woods and the view across the valley to the west as the sun was low in the sky was gorgeous. I'll have to get out and take some pictures while the sky is still blue and sunny. Dark days are coming fast. I'll fill you guys in soon about all that has been going on here. This weekend we are helping butcher pigs, followed by hopefully butchering our geese. Looking forward to bacon, sausage, lard, goose fat...

Harvesting, mourning and celebrating

 A lesson in chicken anatomy, my son knows a chicken liver, lungs, heart and gizzard. He insisted in pulling out all the organs from each chicken we butchered - just twelve in all, averaging eight and half pounds each. (Not intentionally, just pure procrastination.)

We had about three days where the Birch trees were full and completely golden. A night of wind and now the woods are bare and empty with only the occasional fully gowned tree bringing us to stop and ponder why it still has all it's leaves  I am a frantic squirrel gathering and stowing away, scrambling this way and that. My gathering and survival instincts are strong. I cannot go for a walk or just stand around and enjoy the beauty. Instead every walk is accompanied by a basket on my arm, gloves and my pocket knife or clippers, with me wondering what should be harvested next, Usnea or rose hips? Raspberry leaves or Dandelions? The past two weeks I gave up on carrying or hauling produce or herbs down from the garden and instead I drove the car up and down the hill, filled one day with cabbages, then comfrey tied in bundels, the next day; buckets of beets and carrots.

Dustin is on his sixteenth day straight of twelve hour shifts with an hour commute in each direction. I'm feeling like I've been a single mom for the last five months. The kids and I have had a challenging few weeks with me trying to do too much and they've been letting me know they need more attention.
I'm trying not to panic at everything that still needs to be done before the snow falls - we should have a few more weeks of bare ground, I hope.

 My winter squash, gourd and pumpkin harvest. Not impressive by most standards, but to see me gaze adoringly at my squash pile, you'd think I was gazing on a child I'd just birthed :)

Now for some sad news. We said goodbye to our faithful family dog of nine and a half years. Chana was an intuitive, gentle and hard working dog until the day she died. She was our first child. We think she had lymphoma or some sort of intestinal or stomach cancer. She went down hill quickly over the last couple months. The day we had her put down, I drove her up to the garden to sit in the sun, and took this picture. The kids spent the day writing and singing her songs. We buried her in a deep hole that Dustin spent a night digging, and we covered her with sweat peas and garden flowers. The kids and I have been visiting her and telling her about our days and what she has been missing. The house is strange and empty without her. It has been very sad to say goodbye.
 

We just celebrated Avery's fourth birthday. She had a fabulous day. We celebrated at the park with friends and family.

 

And that has been our September news. Harvesting, mourning death, celebrating life. Our days should be growing less eventful and we turn indoors and begin to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors. We are just beginning lessons. I'm looking forward to have more time for crafts; knitting and felting, elaborate meals, learning with and from my children, reading and writing. What are you busy with and looking forward to?

Autumn Scramble

It is harvest time in the Interior. Low lying areas have had a few light frosts by now, enough that most zucchini, pumpkins and heat loving plants have succumbed - especially if they were not under cover. In the hills we are safe for a couple more weeks, but it is certainly time to begin the harvest, as much as we'd like to let everything just keep on growing. My bush beans, cucumbers and tomatoes were late this year and are just finally getting going. I'm hoping to make a couple batches of pickled dilly beans and pickled cucumbers over the next week or two. The peas have almost come to a complete halt, and so I should probably begin pulling vines and feeding them to the goats. One of my gardening weaknesses is spreading out the harvest. I just want to keep cutting broccoli side shoots and allow the cabbages and squash to grow bigger and bigger. And that is why I never get the compost worked in the fall - because before I know it the plants are frozen into the solid ground - oops.

This past weekend we took a short vacation. My doe who is due any day now is still due, maybe today? When we got back we killed off our bees :( and extracted honey. We had a very warm sticky kitchen and house for a night. Noah did most the cranking. I had to mop the floor the next morning before we even made breakfast, as it was so sticky to walk around. We are the proud owners of three and half gallons of our own honey - not a great yield or even a good yield, but I'll take it. My bees are still working on building their home; building wax onto their new frames - that's my excuse. I made some medicine this week with plants and weeds from the garden, tinctures of Callendula flowers, whole Spilanthes plants in bloom, whole Callifornia poppy plant and whole Plantain. We've been picking Callendula and Chamomile for tea and oil.

Our to do list is oh so long. It is the time of year where I need to harvest or put something up daily. At the top of the harvesting list are twelve very large crowing Cornish Cross (they've been on the list for a few weeks now.) I was planning on picking crab apples at a friend's today, for making applesauce - depending on how our doe is looking. The freezer is filling up, first blueberries, rhubarb and then raspberries. Next chicken followed by vegetables. It is time to make some lists so I don't go around in circles trying to figure out what to do first. The Golden leaves are falling. The Fireweed and ground plants are turning shades of red and brown. Are you guys feeling the autumn scramble?

Final Summer days

I've just come in from morning chores and am savoring the final moments of silence before my children arise. This has been my week to finally begin waking up and milking goats while the kids sleep on. As a result I've had a wonderfully productive week and more serene mornings. The kids have enjoyed playing in the house all morning while I've been busting out in the kitchen. Yesterday the kids and I made strawberry rhubarb pastries with pie crust for breakfast. The morning before that we made zucchini bread following a carrot cake recipe, which I've decided I prefer to regular zucchini bread recipes. I enjoy a moist well spiced bread. I made jerky this week and it was one of my best batches yet. I didn't follow a recipe this time, just my instincts as I poured in soy sauce, grated garlic, salt, fresh ground pepper, brown sugar and red hot chili paste. I fear I didn't make enough to get us through our upcoming road trip, and horrors; I'm out of soy sauce, so I have to visit the store before I can make more.

We are enjoying a sunny week in the seventies and low eighties - most of us are overjoyed for another week of summer after having such crisp cool weather lately. Yesterday the kids and I went raspberry picking for the second time. I picked about five gallons the previous picking and canned eighteen pints of raspberry jam and put three gallon bags of frozen raspberries in the freezer. Afterwards we met with friends for a water play day at the park. The sunlight is not as strong as early summer. I've been outside in full sun daily from noon to five, slathering myself with coconut oil, and I've gotten some color - not nearly enough.

My "TO DO" List is so long. Trying to decide what to do and what to put off seems crucial. We were going to butcher the meat chickens this week so I wouldn't have to buy another bag of feed, but my husband has been out of town unexpectedly. The kids and I have been spending our afternoons around the house herding goats and guarding free ranging chickens. I am keeping on top of the weeds in the garden. Next on my list is medicine making. I have time to pull things but not the time to do things with them so I'm waiting till next week to make some tinctures and glycerites with california poppies, plantain, skullcap, spilanthes, callendula, lovage and catnip.

We are also keeping a close eye on Rose who is at day 141 of her gestation and is due on day 150, but tends to kid on day 146. She is in her own stall with full access to the outdoors. Up until the last couple days she has been getting out for walks with the rest of the herd, but I suspect she is pretty content lounging around now. Her movements are becoming awkward and slower than usual. Two years ago she kidded to three bucklings and last year she kidded to two doelings and a buckling but we lost the first doeling who was the only light red doeling we've gotten. Two doelings would be perfect. Calla Lilly, Calypso, Coriander, Callendula (Cally). Names that don't conform but I like, Candy, Claire, Coral. Rose is a veteran kidder. She has never needed help. After she kids however, I think she can be overwhelmed with three kids to look after and feed.

The woods are patched with yellow. It happened overnight. I comfort myself by feasting on all the green still in sight. Summer is drawing to a close here. Time to begin the scramble to stockpile and put away all that we can while we can still see it, catch it, pick or dig it.

Summer pictures; goats, kids and geese

Rose, due August 24th. Fingers crossed for a nice doeling, preferably white or light red.

 

Bluebell meet Rosie Goose. The goose always wins.

 

My kids bonded with the wrong doeling this year, sigh. Looks like she is staying for now. At least she is well handled.

Zinnia and daughter Clary; the doeling I wish the kids had bonded with.

Garden Strawberries.

Our first Goat Show

Where to start? I decided to take three milkers and one yearling. In retrospect I wish I'd taken my two year old milker Avalon. Rose; who I suspect may be my nicest confirmation doe, is due in a couple weeks so she couldn't go, so I took her daughter Zinnia, pictured above and bellow, and her granddaughter Bluebell.

I borrowed a couple different pair of clippers from a friend. Alas, as I've never clipped a goat before, it quickly became apparent that I was doing them no favor by putting swipes through their smooth natural coats, so I gave up on clipping, but have the intent to practice before next year's show comes around.

I've never seen lice on my goats and I have looked. I've never deliced them either. However, they make a really big deal about all your goats being turned away if the vet finds a louse during the vet check. I was certainly concerned that the vet might actually find lice so I purchased some diatomaceous (sp?) earth and brushed it into their coats a couple times over the week before showing. In retrospect it appears that I may have overdone it. I ran a warm soapy wet rag with essential oils over the goats before we went to the show. Yet at the show when I was petting or would pat the goats tufts of diatomaceaous earth would puff up. Oops.

I had concerns about showing Zinnia as she is my nervous ninny. She is really a sweet dear thing, but she get's scared easily. When she gets scared she lashes out with her teeth and nips or bites at whoever is closest. So getting bit in the show ring was definitely a possibility, and eventually a reality. What I did not expect is that she would be so nervous that she wouldn't fill out her udder. She produces about five pounds of milk overnight generally, and come the morning of the show her udder was only about a quarter of the way full. I thought about leaving her at home but I was interested in hearing what the judge had to say about the rest of her confirmation. 

We were showing at an American Dairy Goat Sanctioned Show. There were enough Lamanchas, Nigerian Dwarf and Nubians to each have their own sanctioned shows. Everyone else was in shown in All Other Pure Bred classes. Zuri and Zinnia were in a three year old Lamancha milker class. Zuri took first place and Zinnia took fourth and last place because of her udder.

Xanadu, my well behaved five year old, took first place in her class, Lamancha milkers five years and older. The judge's words are all muddled in my memory now. But I recall she thought her teats were too long in comparison to her udder. She had good things to say about the rest of her.

Xanadu and Zuri, as best of their class, went on to compete in the overall Lamancha milker class, I'm not sure the proper title. Zuri got reserve Grand Champion. She is the black and tan doe I'm trying to position. Her topline is not as level as it should be, and that seemed to be the deciding factor that kept her from doing better. I was very happy with how they both did and looked. These are my two favorite does and I enjoyed hearing the judge have positive things to say about each of them.

(I hope that none of the ladies pictured here with their goats take offense that I'm posting this without their permission. I will take down pictures if asked.)

Bluebell was the only doe shown in any of the Lamancha Junior doe classes. As a result she took Lamancha Junior doe Grand Champion. Despite the lack of competition, the judge had many good things to say about her. She went on to compete against the best junior does from each other catagory. She got second place in the best of Junior doe show. The judge had me bring Blue back and line her up with the recorded grade doe at the end of the line. So, there were a few moments of excitement. The Recorded Grade ended up taking Grand Champion Junior Doe.

Overall, I ended up having a fun time. I am looking forward to showing again next year. I was hoping that showing might help me make some decisions in which goats to keep and which to sell. If I came away with any conclusions it is to keep the my favorite goats and sell those which I haven't bonded with as much. We have five does, two yearlings and two doelings right now. I'm thinking of selling the two yearlings. I'm having a hard time talking my kids into letting me sell the doelings, but I have a strategy; I'm waiting for my next doe to kid, they are suckers for the new babies. I'm also planning on selling one or two milkers this fall. So, hopefully I'll be down to four to six does in the barn this winter.