My Husband

I am going to brag. I have no shame when it comes to my husband. He is amazing. He has been amazing since we first started dating thirteen years ago. He has been beside me through the good, the bad and the darn right ugly. He is solid as a rock. I would choose no other man to walk with through this journey we call life. Some specific things he has done lately to solidify my admiration are as follows. He moved across the state with me on a whim. He doesn't even look back, but just plows straight ahead. He let me follow my dream of owning dairy goats. And he has embraced that dream wholeheartedly. When we found out we were expecting again, I was taken by surprise. And even though we weren't sure that we would ever have another baby, when that test came back positive, he was as excited as he was the first time around. I feel down and out lately. He has stepped up to the plate and been such a support. He builds the most beautiful things. A play kitchen for our children. Nightstands for both of us. A rabbit hutch. A milking stanchion. A media center for the tv and dvd's. There seems to be nothing the man can't do. And if he hasn't done something before, he does the research and learns what needs to be done. And then he does it better. He excels at his job and routinely places at the top of his company in customer satisfaction and job completion. Customers appreciate him so much that they invite him back to their homes just to hang out. I don't think he has ever met anyone that doesn't like him. He is sweet, funny, a good cook, loving, generous, handsome, and every other thing a man should be. I love him with all my heart.

My man with the completed milking stanchion he built.



The rabbit hutch he built



The delicious dinner he made for us tonight



Welding the stanchion



Wonder

Our Wednesday Wonder for today doesn't really get more wondrous. What I am talking about is the addition to our family that will be arriving in late November. That's right, I mean a baby. Our baby. The caboose to the crazy train that we are on. Here is our little tiny blueberry for your viewing pleasure. Oh, and now you know why the postings have been scattered and why I haven't been feeling so hot lately. Give me a couple of weeks and things will be regular again.

Holy Moly

Holy Moly, I missed another night, didn't I?!  The kiddos asked me to lay with them last night to help them go to sleep. I said I would for a little bit and hours later I woke up, startled and unsure of where I was. I stumbled across the hall, trying not to run into anything, and drifted back to a fitful sleep. Needless to say, a blog post was the furthest thing from my mind.
Today was a gorgeous day. One of those Spring days that you wait all winter for. Considering that it has been blowing and freezing for DAYS and that we woke to snow on the ground yesterday, today took us by surprise. S jumped right up this morning and went to work with Meme and Papa. M, T, and I took a bit longer to get going. At least I did. After a leisurely breakfast (oatmeal for them, toast for me) we spent some time in the barn. The goats don't know what to think of T. They can't figure out why he is so much smaller than the rest of us. But what freaks them out the most are the cats. The dogs they hate, but the cats scare them. Which is just funny. After we were done in the barn, we went down to where S, Meme and Papa were feeding the cows. Papa let T "drive" the tractor. This delighted the little man so much that when it was over he acted like he couldn't believe it had happened. He kept turning his hands up and saying, "I drive twactoe" in this great voice he has when he is being silly. We then went into the hospital where there are two calves to feed. They are both quite reluctant to take the bottle, so they have to be "drenched" which means a tube is stuck down their throats and the contents of the bottle is drained into them. It sounds rough, but they don't seem to mind as much as you would think.
I needed to go grocery shopping today. S thought stretching fence sounded better than a day at the market with Mom, so he stayed behind to do that. M and T came along though. Going grocery shopping sounds fairly easy, right? Well, it's not. I am an organic shopper. Which is a hard thing to be around here. When growing season starts and farmers' markets come to town, it is so easy. We live in a food mecca. But only during the growing season. All the other seasons it requires a drive of at least thirty-five minutes. Depending on which town I decide to drive to. The longer drive is an hour. But being able to go into a Vitamin Cottage is so worth it. I was able to stock up on all of our favorite goodies. The freezer now has a few new items and the cupboards are refreshed. I love Vitamin Cottage. It was a frequent stop in Fort Collins. We would shop there one to three times a week. The best thing about not having it close by is my wallet stays full longer! We met a fellow former Front Ranger working at our Western Slope Vitamin Cottage. When she asked what brought us to this side of the mountains and I said simply, "Space", she just smiled and said she knew what I meant. That was what had brought them over as well. I guess I have traded convenience in for a little more room for the children to grow and for me to grow as well. After all, a thirty-five minute drive through the country when you are surrounded by beautiful views of the Rockies beats a thirty-five minute drive to go six miles through a congested city any day of the week.

A good day to...

Today was a good day to feel sick. I mean, if there is such a thing as a good day to feel sick, a rainy, blustery, cold day seems to be it. My man stayed home to take care of me, or rather to take care of the children since I had an incapacitating headache.

What happens when Mommy tries to get a little rest.

 He actually managed to get quite a bit done on his unexpected "day off". Nana and Papa recently tore down their old porch so they can update it and freshen things up a bit. Hubby was able to repurpose some of the metal handrails and columns into a milking stanchion. For those unfamiliar with the lingo, that is a stand that the goat is restrained on during milking time. Some of the other metal rails will be put to use in our garden this year for the tomatoes, peas and beans to climb up. Hubby sure likes having the barn to work in when the weather is as horrible as it was today.

Hubby helping Papa. Kiddos being curious.
This pic is actually from yesterday when the weather wasn't as horrible.

The base for the stanchion

This afternoon, the rain stopped even though the wind kept blowing and I was able get a couple pictures of the fields turning greener and the baby cows that are scattered all over.

By nightfall, even the wind had finally stopped and my headache seemed to taper off enough that I could go spend some quality time with the goats. They have so much personality. The babies clamber for attention. They accomplish getting this attention seeking by climbing into my lap or eating my pants. Thankfully, they have not managed to actually create any holes in any of my clothing. I could spend hours out there with them. Roxy bleats like crazy when I finally have to step away. Sweet Mama just needs some adult time every once in a while, and that is something that I can understand.

Luna thinking about eating my sweatshirt

Roxy and Nelly chowing down

Nelly nibbling my pajama bottoms

Curious kids

The chicks are getting to that awkward, gangly stage where they are half fuzz and half feathered. It seems like forever until they are producing eggs. It will be about 4 months or so, I guess.

We moved the kids' play kitchen out of their playroom and into our dining room. Legos have taken over too many times and T can't get to his kitchen. Since it is the only toy that keeps him occupied for any length of time, we felt it necessary for him to have access to it.

Hubby made this beautiful toy. And T loves it. Here he is in the oven.

Here's the Beef

I really should learn to wait a few days to post things when it comes to animals. Every time I praise an animal or think an animal is going to live, they do their best to prove me wrong. Case in point, Mama Cow from the other night. Yea, she only pretended to be nice. Last night she rammed the adopted bull calf so hard she pushed him through the fence. Poor thing was knocked silly. Meme is now bottled feeding him and another calf. Oh and the bull calfs' mom was so crazy she broke her own leg in a fit of rage. We now call her hamburger. Literally, not figuratively. Most cows are somewhat docile and pretty good Mamas. Unfortunately, when a cow/calf pair end up in the hospital, we see the bad examples.
Our other sad news that proved me wrong was our sweet Thumbelina. I thought bringing her in and babying her would save her for sure. A little warmth and TLC and she would catch up to the other chicks in no time. That was not to be. Tiny little thing died on Tuesday.
So maybe the next time I post about an animal, you will be able to read the whole story, not just the beginning and then the dismal end.

Hay

We had a fairly typical day here today. Well, maybe not typical, but nothing too exciting either. We started our day as usual, feeding the animals. Hubby and I then wandered over to talk to Meme and Papa about the plans for the day. We did this under the (foolish) assumption that the older two were watching the littlest one. They weren't. It took us most of the day to discover what exactly he had gotten into that had made him all glittery. This evening, I discovered it was glitter acrylic paint. Hubby verified this further while he was changing T into a nighttime diaper and found glitter poo waiting for him. Oh joy. At least we know it went straight through. I have no pictures to share with you. For that you should be pleased.
Hubby and I stretched chicken wire around part of one of the outside stalls. We are trying to make a safe enclosure for the goats and eventually for the chickens. We are also trying to do it on a budget, which is why only part of the stall in now enclosed. The wire we used was from a previous tenants' very lame attempt to make a turkey coop. We also filled in the stall area with the leftover hay from the round bales that were once out front, but have now all been fed to the cows. Ranger loves this hay and wriggles around in it so much that his nose touches his hips. We had a trash burning day as well. We wanted to burn weeds, but oh, that darn wind again.
I drove Meme, M and T into Delta to pick up some little chicks for Meme. She chose four Ameracaunas or Aracaunas. They are the ones that lay blue and green eggs. M was able to help pick them out, much to her delight.
This evening we all helped Papa and Meme move some extremely feisty cows around. As in, horrid cows. As in, they would be better off in a rodeo or the crockpot. They are terrible mothers and terrible to have to take care of. We did move one sweet cow, though, and she made up for the others. She adopted a calf from one of the horrid mothers. So in addition to nursing her own calf, she is now nursing this other one as well.
We ended our day with a glorious sunset and delicious omelets made by Hubby.

Helping Papa

 I get to help Papa do a lot around the entire ranch all the time, and it's fun. Today I drove the mule into a fence post, [ON PURPOSE!!!!!!] Well, to fix it because it was bent over, We fixed a lot of fence today. I also feed corn to the cows with Meme and Papa almost every day.The big bull's[the older bull's] get one bucket of corn, which is a lot less than the other cows get. I like helping Papa because its fun, and I get to be with him. I built a lego mule, it really looks like the real one. 

Thanks for reading, S

Read

Whoa, I am exhausted. I have stayed up waaay too late reading and now I am completely unmotivated to write. I tried to write a different post, but it came out incomprehensible. So. This is all I am going to say. Read. Read. And then read some more. It doesn't matter what you read, just read. It makes your brain gain new wrinkles. And trust me, that is one body part where you want a lot of wrinkles. I read children's novels quite often, mostly to make sure they are suitable for my children. I just read Frankenstein for the first time. Did you know that Mary Shelley was only nineteen when she wrote that classic? I am now reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and Surfacing by Margaret Atwood, as well as my favorite magazine, GRIT and two books about raising dairy goats. I have an ongoing love affair with The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook. I adore cookbooks, especially ones with stories interwoven. I pick up and put down Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. As a novelist, I love her. As a non-fiction writer she comes off a bit pretentious. I know thousands of people loved her book, I just can't say I was one of them. I read homeschooling books whenever I can. And sustainable living books. And picture books. Don't get me started on picture books. I pick up my bird identification guidebook almost every day. My guilty pleasure is Louis L'amour. So easy to read and still so very entertaining and sometimes educational. Do you have any recommendations?  Wow. Hhmm. I guess I was able to write tonight after all.

Most of our books

Wind

Oh that darn Spring wind! How it howls down through this valley and rattles the barn doors. It bangs them around like a herd of wild elephants trying to get in. The dogs bark at it to no avail. The goats bleat in fright. The windchimes nearly spin off their nails. It blows the rain hard against our windows, making it sound like hail. Oh the wind, my least favorite Springtime symptom.
Due to all the cussed wind, we spent alot of time indoors today. It turns that nearly being blown over while having dirt ground into your face and teeth is really no fun. Which is especially hard for the kids since their bikes are now here and all they want to do is ride them. So between my frequent trips into the barn to soothe the animals and the children trying just one more time to go outside, we really only accomplished some random things. We watched the third Pirates of the Carribean. It was longer than I remembered. We placed a sprouted potato in a jar of water to watch it grow leaves. We held the chicks about twenty-seven times. Sometimes we made the chicks drive our doll car or wander around our Lego cottage. We also carried them in small pails and made them karate chop each other. Somehow, amazingly enough, the chicks survived it all. My nerves just about didn't.

This picture makes me want to sing a little jingle.

Sprouting potato and cilantro

The cilantro I planted a week or two ago is now about an inch tall. And today M noticed a small set of green leaves sprouting up from the rosemary pot.  I am a week or two off from writing about a Sunday Creation. Last week my Sis was here and not much was created other than memories. Today I am totally unmotivated and too tired from our recent trip. Next week we will continue our Sunday Creations.

Chicks

My children are reading Shel Silverstein to chicks right now. S is holding one chick and the book, while M is holding two chicks and doing her best to make sure they see all the pictures.

 I, on the other hand, have a chickie asleep on my chest while I type. Our Dominique breed of chicks numbered seven upon arrival of their new home. They now number five. And they are definetely not growing as fast as the others. One of them is so tiny we have taken to calling her Thumbelina.

Thumbelina

After Thumbelina had a bath, I was trying to warm her up.

 Thumbelina had a massively caked bottom end. Caked with poo that is. She got to come inside and take a "bath". Then we thought she might be too cold to go back out. So we set her up in an extra rabbit cage and brought three of the other small chicks in to keep her company and add to her warmth. It turns out that chicks in the house equals endless lovin' from children. And endless wide eyed attention from the cats.

 

Thumbelina is all the way to the left.