My First Attempt

Here is our first attempt at dressing up a goat!

The jacket didn't fit so we tied it around and he kept throwing the hat off.

Somebody needed a hug.  

I'm sure he'll do better with a better costume design and a little more practice.

Getting Ready for Breeding Season

As a new goat mom I have yet to experience goat milk, rut, pregnancy and kidding.  To tell the truth I'm kind of nervous about it.  But I have a great mentor to coach me through the process.  If all goes well, Miss Ginger will be a mama early next year.  

Though right now she's more interested in trying to get the chicken's food.

Miss Heidi is growing beautifully.  She has a bit more growing to do before she is ready to breed though.  Maybe late this fall.

Such a pretty girl.  They both are.

Here's the boys!  On the right is our herd wether, Burger.    On the left we have Doritos who is in tact and will be bred to Miss Heidi when the time is right.  I'm waiting for the wonderful experience of him going into rut.  Got to say I'm a bit nervous about that too.  God will get me, and the goats, through it all though.  Then He will reward me with wonderful goat milk and cheese and whatever else I can learn how to make.

Another goatie idea I have was inspired by this picture.  He's not mine, but he sure is cute.  I want one.  No, not the little goat, the outfit.  I've decided Burger needs an outfit and a gig.  Who wouldn't want pictures with the cute cowboy goat?  He can be a party entertainment too.  Hubby's not so sure though.  But maybe we should start by dressing him up and taking pictures with our own kids.  Anybody have a hat?  Hmm...maybe not a cowboy goat, maybe a military goat?  I think I could pull that off!  Then a Veteran's Day parade?  He's destined for stardom!  Goats are so much fun!

My Vegetable Garden

I was so excited about starting my first vegetable garden this year.  I have done very little vegetable growing in the past and had very little experience and knowledge when I started.  I have since learned a great many things.  For example, our soil lacks calcium enough to grow decent tomatoes.  Chickens love to eat tomatoes.   Mulching is non-negotiable.  Goats getting into your garden does more damage than just what they eat.  They walk all over everything and run from you because they like it there.  Gophers love potatoes and rabbits love everything.  We have a lot of both.  However, despite all of my lack of knowledge and experience we have had a small green bean harvest, had some great carrots, plenty of banana peppers and we are still growing stuff.  Maybe things will turn around?

Difficult Days...

I'm not going to lie.  Sometimes life is downright difficult.  The last two months have been especially so.  I have lost two people whom I loved very much.  My Papa Louis passed on May  18.  My Granny Jane (Louis' wife) passed July 1st.  My heart is aching right now.  They were such wonderful people.  Our loss is Heaven's gain though.  Here is a poem:

Heaven's Rest

At end of day I'm bowed and bent,

My secret shame to Heaven sent,

My yearning heart within me dwells

Calling Our Lord, Emmanuel.

Swift He flies with His return

A lump of coal, the sins to burn

My heart to mend, my head to bless,

His blood to wash my soul afresh,

And ere He left I held Him tight,

Pray one more thing before thy flight,

Please give me peace to rest this night.

My peace is thine, my daughter lie,

Sleep well til morning b ids thee rise

With joy my heart swelled in my breast,

'Twas then I entered Heaven's Rest.

Leghorn Stew...aka...Chicken and Dumplings

Since I was little this was the dish I asked for over and over again.  Of course Mom never made it often enough for my taste so guess what I learned to make on my own early in life?  Yep, chicken and dumplings.  This may just be my all time favorite food.  It's even how I met my husband!  I was in the Air Force and lived in the dorms.  One night I got to talking about chicken and dumplings with some friends and before I knew what happened we were cooking up my recipe on the backyard grill since there was no kitchen.  There must have been a dozen people eating it, my future husband among them.

Now, I have tasted only a couple of recipes that rival mine for flavor but it's not a dish often served outside the home either.  My recipe is based largely on the bisquick recipe.  Actually, it is the bisquick recipe with some minor changes.  Why mess up a good thing right?  Except I make my own bisquick mix and I make my own stock.  I also add more pepper.  Yesterday was the first time I made it with chicken we raised.  It happened to be a leghorn rooster out of the bunch mentioned a few posts back.  Since I'm such a nice person I will share my recipe with you.  It's really more of a method since I measure out very little.

Trisha's Chicken and Dumplings

Prepare your stock (I make a large amount since I feed seven. Usually a stock pot filled at least halfway)

Use a whole chicken (not necessary for smaller families).  My stock is then seasoned with plenty of pepper.  Be generous.

I use about 6 cups of the bisquick mix I make (6 cups flour, 3 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp salt and 1 cup shortening) and I don't measure the milk I add but you're looking for a consistency similar to pie crust or biscuits or somewhere in between.  Really sticky doughs tend to be gooey and that's just gross.

Heat your stock to boiling and reduce to a simmer.  Drop mix into stock by tablespoons full.  It's fun for my family to gather around the dough bowl and grab chunks and just break them off and put them in.  Usually there are two or three of us at least.  Be sure to throw a little dough at one of the kids as well.  Also, dump the remaining crumbs in the pot as this helps create a thick, gravy-like consistency.

Once all your dough is in the stock give it a good stir to ensure all the dough balls are covered and to create the thicker consistency.  Then cover and wait at least ten minutes.  Uncover, add pre-cooked chicken pieces, stir and wait another ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Adding the chicken at the end  prevents it from sticking to the bottom. 

The only time I ever mess this recipe up is when i try to remember my homemade bisquick recipe instead of looking it up.  Also, bisquick is actually sweetened so using real bisquick does lead to a different flavor.

Happy Father's Day

In loving memory:

Thomas E. Owens

Dec. 27, 1949-Jan. 1, 2012

I love you and miss you every day.

Some Things I have Learned...

Since this life is new to me I thought I would add some of my newfound knowledge:

1.  Farms need cats.  This is not optional.  I opted out and now I have mice in the garage that occasionally get into the house and eat the fruit from the basket.  Usually one bite of something on the bottom of the basket.  This week, as a deterrent I bought cantaloupe.  Let's see them take a bite out of that!  BTW, we got a kitten last week.  She already killed a bird.

2.  The outdoor guardsman (aka Smokey the Pitbull) will bark to alert us of anything entering the yard/pens as well as anything leaving them, including foraging chickens and they forage a lot.

3.  A loud fan placed in your bedroom at night because the a/c went out will drown out the sound of the roosters in the morning. Yeah!  Slept all the way to 6:45!  Except when I woke up briefly at 5am because it was 84 degrees inside.  FYI, having a field of dirt next to your house requires changing your a/c filter more than once a month.

4.  (Adults only) Smaller breed duck males have a difficult time breeding with larger breed females.  But their little breeding conversation is cute.  Daisy looks all sheepish but she's not!

5.  Roosters will teach their young.  I watched as Culpepper (our "lead" rooster) stood at the corner of the brooder with all the chicks gathered round as he chatted away in chicken language.  I wondered if he was plotting something, you know, because he's evil.

6.  Culpepper is evil.  He may have to go.

7.  Scorpion stings hurt but it doesn't last long.

8.  Rabbits are not as difficult to catch as I imagined.  Especially when the dog scares them stiff, literally.

9.  Red bell peppers take a long time to turn red.  A really long time. Like, forever.  Seriously.

10.  Animals will sometimes escape a pen only to turn around and try to get back in.  Also, they won't remember how they got out.