Month in Review

It's been a little while since I've posted anything.  Which is not to say that we haven't been busy; anyone who harvests produce will understand that this is a busy time of year.  Also the concussion didn't help (one of my corgis thinks he is a ninja and thought it would be fun to practice on me).  I had all these ideas for posts, but instead this will have to be a mish-mash.

To make up for the strawberry harvest (which was abysmal with all the spring rain), we had a wonderful raspberry and blackberry crop this year.  Since raspberry/blackberry jam is my favorite jam, I really didn't mind so much.

Raspberry/blackberry jam

I also had a humbling experience.  With everything going on (health issues, dealing with all the produce coming in, keeping up with the goats, going to my day job, etc.) I can feel very overwhelmed sometimes.  Then people come along and do the completely unexpected.  I was working with my daughter and her 4H projects, and we were at one of the leader's houses finishing up a project and talking about things.  I happened to notice that they had one of the magnetic knife strips above their sink and asked about it (I have always thought they were really awesome and wanted to get one).  Next thing I know, one of their daughters goes into a closet and hands me one.  I had no words, but am very grateful and happy.

My new knife holder.  My husband says it looks intimidating, since it is now one of the first things you see when you come into our kitchen.

In that same week, friends of ours gave me another gift: a lovely goat bag, upcycled from a feed bag, with some dairy-free cookies in it (I made sure to hide those so that I actually got to eat them. They were tasty).  The bag has been used several times since.


My new grocery/stuff bag

 

It is wonderful to have people like this in my life.  One does not need to have lots of friends, at least I don't.  I would rather have a few friends that I know I can count on than lots of friends who are going to leave when things get bad.

Okay, moving on.  So, now that the weather seems to (finally!) be getting cooler, our pumpkins are coming in.  Everyone seems to think this is too early, but one cannot argue with produce.  Also, I love pumpkin anything, so I am not going to complain.  The plan was to have some pumpkin for eating now and some to freeze.  However, the first batch came in for labor day and we already ate all of it.  I'm not sure that anything will make it to the freezer from the remaining pumpkins.  I made a lovely pumpkin bar/cake thing and a pumpkin pie (that's right, we had pumpkin pie for labor day and it was awesome).  We are already discussing dedicating an entire (new) garden just to pumpkins next year.  And this is how we end up with so many gardens.


Pumpkin bars

And this morning we had an unexpected visitor.  We live in an area with a local hot air balloon company, and they frequently fly over our house.  It still surprises me every time, although it is just normal to my daughter.  They were flying over this morning.  Even the goats were stopping to look.

The hot air balloon flying over this morning

I tried to get a picture of the goats all looking at the hot air balloon, but of course they all turned to look at me instead. I must work on my sneaking skills.  I guess it would help if I didn't have a squeaky front porch door to contend with.

The goats, turning from the hot air balloon to look at me

What they don't tell you in Motherhood Books: Plumbing

When you're pregnant, people love to give you advice and motherhood books.  Heck, they love to do that anytime they realize that you have a kid, whether they have raised one  or not.  But the things that no one tells you sometimes end up being the things you need to know.  Like how to do minor plumbing repairs on your own.

Since my husband and I both work full-time non-farming jobs, my daughter is in camps during the summer daytime hours.  Which means she comes home with all kinds of crafts and things.  Mostly these involve paper, paint, yarn, and those darn rubber band things (just like school!).  But then there are the Orbeez(R).  According to their website:

Orbeez are superabsorbent polymers—that means they are made of several smaller molecules joined together. With the addition of water they can grow to more than 100 times their volume. That’s right, place a tiny Orbeez bead in water and watch it swell! The water is absorbed into the spaces between the molecules. These polymers were invented for agricultural use back in the 1960s to irrigate crops during times of drought. Today you will find superabsorbent polymers in diapers to prevent leaks, in food packages to absorb liquid and in floral vases to hydrate cut flowers.

Of course, using them for agricultural uses must not have been profitable enough, so now they are marketing them for children to make in kits.  Colleen makes them at daycare and brings them home in cups.  I guess they stress the "water" part of these darn things, because she is obsessed with washing them; they are also slimy and attract all kinds of dirt and animal hair, which may contribute to their needing to be cleaned. 

Fast forward a week into their entry into our house.  Suddenly our bathroom sink is clogged.  My husband was the first one to discover it, and asked my daughter, as she had been washing the beads and there were some remnants of them on the bathroom floor.  She blamed the cat, insisting that the cat had somehow clogged the bathroom sink.  Right.  Later that evening I spent quite awhile pulling the things out with tweezers (for some reason our new faucet set-up does now allow you to remove the drain plug, which I think is completely ridiculous.  So, short of my husband disconnecting the pipes and removing them, which wasn't going to happen anytime soon, we were going to have a clogged drain).  Then I got out the vinegar and baking soda and let that go to work (this is an eco-friendly version of drain unclogger and works in a pinch when the clog is not horrible and you have no drain unclogger on hand).  The sink is not quite back to normal, but is much more usable. 

So keep in mind that all conversations regarding the sink/beads/clog/cat had been between my daughter and husband at this point.  I had unclogged the drain after she went to bed.  She certainly noticed the next morning when she got up that it was working, and made a comment to that effect.  I gave her a look.  And the very next words out of her mouth were, "I don't know how the orbeez got down the drain Mommy. I didn't put them there." Right.

Sadly, this is not the only time I've had to do this kind of thing.  Those tweezers live in our bathroom and are strictly for pulling things out of drains.  Colleen is in her "experimental science" and "taxidermy" phases.  This involves a lot of washing things down sinks.  I never know what dead insect she will decide has to be washed off in our sink so she can study it better. I don't mind the washing and studying of the insect so much, but we do have a utility sink in the basement for this kind of thing.

Crisp Squash Pickles

Canning season has begun!  Every winter we plan and dream about our gardens (we plant several) and they never quite end up how we planned, but that doesn't matter.  For some reason, we seem to be able to grow cantaloupes and watermelons in the dozens, but have trouble with "easy" veggies like tomatoes and zucchini.  So this year we planted an entire row of zucchini and an unfathomable number of tomato plants.  This approach seems to have worked for us, because we now have lots of green tomatoes and pounds and pounds of zucchini.

After rejoicing in the quantity of zucchini (I am less thrilled about the tomatoes, as I can no longer eat as many as I would like due to serious heartburn issues), I picked seven or so.  And there are still so many left growing!  Every time I picked one of the large ones, it seemed like there was a smaller one hiding under the leaves nearby.  It's nice that all the rain is helping with something, since it did not help our strawberry crop this year.

So, with the help of my food processor, I made four loaves of zucchini bread.  The first two will be gone by the end of the week.  The other two I froze before they get devoured. 

I then went to a book my mother purchased for me some years ago: the Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook.  If you have a large amount of any kind of produce to deal with, or are looking for some new and interesting ways of mixing produce I highly recommend it.  Each year we try out some new recipes.  A few years ago we did Lime Pear jam.  Last year we tried Pickled Green Beans.  With all the zucchini I thought I would try Crisp Squash Pickles.

The recipe calls for 5 lbs of zucchini.  Having recently purchased a small digital scale, I had a geek moment when I measured out my zucchini, getting just the right combination of squash to equal (almost) 5 lbs.  Here is what 5.1 lbs of zucchini looks like:

I then went back to the food processor (I love that thing!) to make the slices:

From there I simply followed the recipe.  The final product looks pretty good.

Mason Dixon Fair 2014: The Storm

Tuesday night, while the goat shows were finishing up, a brief large storm system moved through the area.  Thunderstorms had been predicted for the day and evening (it's seems like the weathermen predict thunderstorms on a daily basis during the summer, just to be on the safe side).  People with smartphones who had been looking at the weather radars started warning those of us without smartphones that there was a system coming through.  It looked like a long hot dog, with yellows and reds.  They were predicting hail and winds up to 70 mph.

The storm starting to come in.  This picture does not do justice to the actual darkness of the sky.

Then the phone calls started coming in.  People close by who had already been hit were calling to warn us: this system was coming in fast and hard, with little warning.  A husband called his wife and told her not to come home, but to go to a friend's house; their roof had been damaged by hail.  Others were calling to warn us to make the tents and barns and animals secure NOW, because this thing was coming.  In the meantime, the shows were continuing, because the skies were still clear.

My in-laws had come to see Colleen show, and decided to head home based on the weather report.  My husband went to see them to their car.

Colleen was through with showing, so I started putting anything of ours that was loose and could blow around away (chairs, clothing, boots, etc.).  Suddenly the sky started darkening and the wind picked up.  Within 5 minutes, the wind was whipping the large tent around.  Then a pole must have snapped, because the tent started coming down on top of us.

The collapsed tent.

I told Colleen to run to the cow barn next to us (it was a solid built structure, not a large tent), while I helped make sure that everyone in the tent got out safely.  A few minutes later I made it over to the cow barn.  I could not find my child.  There may be a something worse than not knowing where your child is during a natural disaster, but I don't know what it is.  Those were the worst few moments of my life, and they were brief.  I started screaming her name, trying to find her.  The woman with me, who I had been working with, quickly put me at ease, telling me that she had seen Colleen earlier and told her daughter to take Colleen to their car.  She had recognized Colleen by her neon yellow shorts.  Because there were cows in the cow barn, and everyone was running into it, she was worried that the storm might spook the cows and cause injuries to people.  After a few minutes we ran out to their car, where Colleen and her daughter were both safe.  Colleen was a mess, worried about myself and Chad (we managed to reach Chad on his cell phone.  He was hiding out in the goat trailer).  I later reached his parents, who were also fine.  We watched the rest of the storm pass by in the safety of their car.

The collapsed tent from the outside.

As far as I know, there was only one person injured by the collapsing tent.  She is now recovering.  I am thankful that the damage was limited.  At our house, we only lost power for a few days.  From what I heard and saw, it could have been much worse.  Afterwards, there was a beautiful double rainbow.

Rainbow after the storm.  Colleen took this picture.

It was also interesting to see the reaction from the goats that we took to the fair.  Little Buddy, who had been quite happy at the fair getting attention from everyone, took the Chicken Little approach.  The next morning he had diarrhea and wouldn't eat.  Apparently he thought the world was going to end.  By the evening he was back to normal, trying to get everyone to pet him and wanting all the attention.  Charcoal, who wanted nothing to do with being at the fair and didn't eat much since we had gotten there, apparently figured that if that was the worst that was going to happen, now she's a survivor and she's going to live.  After that she certainly had an appetite.

Mason Dixon Fair 2014: Tuesday 7/8/14

Tuesday was very busy.  Colleen had shows basically back-to-back-to-back.  The Open Fiber Goat Show began at 4 pm with Showmanship.  Colleen won first in her age category since she was the only one in her age category.  She did not do so well once she was competing with the other first place Showmanship competitors.  Charcoal, her angora goat, was quite hot, and not used to being walked on a lead.

Colleen and Charcoal begin their walk around the ring for the judge.

Charcoal won first place in her class for fiber goats (Senior Doe Kid), since she was the only one.  She also won Champion Doe Colored Doe (she actually had some competition there).  Based on comments from the spectators, fairgoers, and even the judge, she was also deemed (unofficially) the "cutest" angora goat there.  I totally agree.

Colleen adjusting Charcoal's feet during the judging.

The Fiber Goat Show ran from 4pm until after 6pm, when the Meat Goat Show started, which Colleen was also participating in.  Luckily, they started with Showmanship, beginning with the older group and going to the youngest group.  This gave us enough time to finish the fiber show, run Charcoal back to her pen, and switch goats. 

Colleen during Showmanship with Squeaker.  Notice how she's not even looking at the judge?

Following showmanship, it was time for Colleen's last show, with Little Buddy.  At home, during the few times that she had worked with him, he had refused to walk anywhere, simply laying down.  I was wondering how this would play out in the show ring; whether his interest in other goats would keep him on his feet (he's a nosy little bugger), or whether he would just lay down and play dumb.  Apparently he was happy to stay on his feet, but didn't actually want to walk anywhere.

Colleen and Little Buddy having a battle of wills in the show ring.

I guess I should be happy that she has no interest in showing cows.

Mason Dixon Fair 2014: Monday 7/7/14

We do not do a lot of shows.  With both of us working and Colleen being relatively young it just doesn't work out well.  However, the Mason Dixon Fair is close to home and one that we usually participate in.  It is also the first show of the season.  My daughter shows a few goats and I usually enter some items in the home goods. 

Monday was a busy day, as we were getting all of our tack, feed, and of course the goats ready to travel.  Even though the show is less than 15 miles from our house, it is still a big endeavor.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to be traveling several states away!  At least for this show, if we forget something, we can make a short trip back home to get it.

Charcoal, Little Buddy, and Squeaker settle into their new home for a few days.

Colleen only had one show on Monday: Breeding goats, with Squeaker.  As her mother, I had encouraged her to work with the goats that we knew she would be showing, so that they would walk on the lead around the show ring for her.  This wasn't her first show, and although she's young, she knew better what to expect this year. As her mother, I of course have no idea what I am talking about.  So she chose not to work with her goats until a few days before the show (this is not what is recommended by the way).  Which definitely showed in the ring. 

Colleen doing final touch-ups to Squeaker before taking her into the ring.

I am not, and will not, be the kind of parent who does their child's homework for them.  This is not to say that  I will not help her.  Chad and I both helped her clip the goats (which she is not able to do herself) and wash them in preparation for the show.  However, I believe that she should be responsible for age-appropriate tasks (such as feeding, water, and teaching them to walk on a lead).

Colleen and Squeaker walking around the ring for the judge.

The judges were all very nice about it (there were other kids who were in the same predicament).  They did not come out and tell the kids that they needed to work with their animals more.  They all said something along the lines of, "These kids had very uncooperative animals to work with and made the best of it."  But it also means that Colleen came in last in showmanship (this is where Colleen is being judged on her ability to show an animal).  Colleen didn't seem to mind coming in last, as she came in first/second/other places for other shows, but I minded.  I guess I felt that she didn't do the best that I knew she could have and I wanted her to.  I guess I will have to work on letting that go.  She had fun, and that's definitely important too.  Although I have asked some of the older 4H girls to give her some tips and encouragement for the next show (4H Fair).  That way she has some ideas on what specifically to work on, and it's not coming from me.


Colleen and Chad chillin'.

Cocoa Loco

This year we were fortunate in having a brown goat doeling that lived (something my husband apparently really wanted) .  We have had ones born previously, but they all seemed to catch pneumonia within days of birth and die, no matter what we did, and even if their twins were fine.  I chalked it up to some kind of genetic inferiority on the part of the brown goats, some kind of hereditary immune issue being passed on from our previous buck, Spike.


Cocoa and her mother, Chocolate.

As I said before, this year was different.  Perhaps it was due to multiple factors: Cocoa was born to our best mother goat (Chocolate will let any goat kid nurse off of her) and she was a single rather than a twin.  As she was all brown, given the history we'd had with previous goat kids, we took special care with her, checking on her multiple times a day, watching every sneeze (goats sneeze a lot normally anyway), making sure every poop was regular, giving her the warmest stall.  Although we may not have needed to worry about that last part, because within a day of her birth, she was zooming laps around the stall, jumping in and out of the hay feeder, and trying to jump onto her mother.  Maybe we should have named her Spitfire.  Unfortunately for her, because of her unique (to our herd) coloring and our inability within the household to decide on a name, she has three: Cocoa Cinnamon Bon Bon.  Fancy.  Usually we just call her Cocoa; if she's bad we'll add "Loco" to the end of that.

Cocoa trying to get as far into the hay feeder as possible.

All that personal attention has turned her into a personable goat, in that she enjoys being around people, and nibbling on their clothes while being petted.  However, around goats she is the instigator and troublemaker, always finding new ways of making life exciting.

Cocoa, having decided to join in the spring gardening frenzy, proudly goes to display her find to the other goats.

Like our other goats, she has decided that the grass on the outside of the fence must somehow taste much different and better than the pasture.  Our pasture fence-line has a perfectly manicured one-foot area all around it from the goats eating it.  Unfortunately for Cocoa, as she has grown, so have her horns.  With her wedge-shaped head, this has resulted in her being able to get her head through the fence to the other side, but not back. Which is all fine and well until she runs out of grass to eat.  So we've had to put the Pipe of Shame on her.  It works wonderfully to keep her from getting her head stuck in the fence, isn't too heavy (yay for PVC and duct tape!) and only took the other goats a day to get used to.

Cocoa, wearing her Pipe of Shame.