I am taking a break from studying for the NCLEX by knitting and watching Psych. The knit is a shawl made with lace weight mohair/lace by knitpicks in the color celestial.

Love, love, love the color

Christmas Contentment

Christmas is probably one of my favorite holidays,  and also my least favorite holiday.  I love the meaning of it all--that Christ came in a very humble and helpless form--a baby, and all to just redeem me!  It is amazing, and fills me with wonder and hope.  My christmases growing up were filled with happiness and family.  A lot of family.  There were always extended family gatherings with lots of cousins and fun.  We had traditions of egg nog on Christmas Eve, with a fire in the fire place.  It was a gas fireplace with the logs that never burned, and gave off hardly any heat, but we were in Southern California so no big deal, right?  Worsterbrochies were for dinner, along with a broccoli cream corn casserole and some kind of jello salad.  My mom had these silver trays that stacked and there were different kinds of cookies on them.  Along with that were pickles and crackers and cheese.  When we got older, sparkling cider was added.  Christmas morning was a breakfast casserole and apricot juice. The apricot juice was key.  Stockings were opened and so were the Santa gifts.  I can remember sitting around and feeling all of my presents, shaking them trying to figure out what they were.  My brother Scott decided he was going to try prevent me from guessing what my gift was, and so wrapped them as sneakily as he could.  One year he gave me a set of Magic Markers all wrapped up individually.  Jay and I were the best at guessing.  The year I got a packet of sugar in my stocking was my favorite Christmas.  Everyone looked at me expectantly and I did not know what to make of it.  Pretty soon they were telling me that they would be happy to have it if I didn't want it.  Took me awhile, but finally I realized the packet of sugar represented the horse, Sugar, that was in the corral.  Supposedly we were just "taking care" of her for a little while.

Gradually, Christmas has been more and more stressful.  First it was trying to make too many things for people while having and raising babies.  I put a lot of pressure on myself, mimicking my mom who always made things for us.  Nice things.  Things that were meaningful and lovely.  My mom was a very thoughtful giver.  There were some years that Christmas was at my house.  Living in Northern California, those from Southern California typically stayed at my house.  One year I had my parents, my sister's family (all 7 of them), and my brother's family (5 of them) plus I had 4? kids, or maybe I was pregnant.  Really I don't remember.  For awhile family came every other year.  Can I say how much fun I had hosting everyone?  I loved having family around.  But since my parents have passed, we don't get together at all.  With anyone.  Not even the brother who lives 15 minutes away.  Or the cousins who are up here with my Aunt. I miss the extended family, although I get it.  Kids have gotten older and started families of their own.  Getting together gets very complicated, and without someone to organize and push (well, really demand) to get together it just doesn't happen.

This year has been particularly hard.  I have struggled to maintain any facade of cheerfulness or of hope.  We have moved, and I don't feel settled.  I didn't want a tree.  There was no money for gifts.  Why even celebrate anything?  Luc stepped in, and worked really hard, and decided we would  have Christmas.  He took the kids, along with Holly, and got a tree.  He got everyone together to decorate. He bought a ton of gifts for everyone, and made sure there were Santa presents.  Nick worked and bought his siblings gifts.  Joel emptied his bank account and bought gifts.  I let a lot of things go, in order to reduce some stress.  Yes, we had worsterbrochies.  Cause it isn't Christmas Eve dinner without the worsterbrochies.  And we had a breakfast pizza casserole.  But we didn't have the apricot juice (I think this is the first year we didn't do that), and I didn't spend very much money.  I actually did make something for the kids--a drink cozy for mason jars that have a lid and straw.  A little thing, really, but well received.  And as I sit here typing, I am listening to my kids all play a game together, getting along and enjoying each other's company, and I am thankful.  Very thankful.  Because Christmas is the story of redemption, of reconciliation, of family and love for each other.  And this is what I have.

November 29 2015

Apparently I am now a grandma. This is my grandchild.   I was left in charge to watch her while Regan went to work to substitute. Teach that is. Regan is very safety conscious and makes sure every one is buckled. 

November

I got sort of derailed last year, when our dog, Anastasia, had to be put down for bone cancer.  Exactly one week later I found my milk cow, Elsie, dead.  It was so sad.  I had gotten a seasonal job, and was relying on the kids to feed her.  The door to the garage had been left open and I believe she got into the chicken food.  I didn't notice her not feeling well (working, remember?) and so I didn't take appropriate steps to help her.  Which if I had been paying attention, I totally could have.  It didn't  have to happen.  Those were two very painful losses.  I regrouped though, and started thinking about what kind of animal(s) would fit into our little homestead.  Although the Dexter is supposed to be able to live on a small amount of land, it seems that our property isn't full of enough good nutrients to truly support a cow, even a small one like Elsie.  She was always hungry it seemed.  So, goats?  I didn't really like the milk from the goats I borrowed before.  Plus, we would have to build a shelter for them.  But I really wanted milk, so I decided to try to make it work.  We have a fenced in area around the chicken coop, and it is fenced on the top as well.  We decided to just build 3 walls around that, and add a tin roof.  It isn't great, but so far it is keeping out the rain.

Next, we needed goats.  There weren't a lot of offerings in February.  However, one person was trying to sell some about 2 hours away.  The price was right, and so I contacted her and up we went.  She desperately wanted to sell her goats.  They hadn't had any health tests, but at 3 for 100$  the price was right.  And, they were all pregnant.  We took them home in March.  By the end of May I had 9 goats. I sold all but three--we kept one mom and 2 babies.  She wasn't the one I was planning on keeping at all, but she became so sweet and easy after she had her babies!  Plus, she had the only baby that was polled.  She is an easy keeper as well.  Then, I bought another goat as she was cheaper than a milk machine, which was what I was wanting.  She is a kinder goat, and gives very rich milk.  I will have to post pictures in another post.

My kids all like the milk, and whatever was causing the goatiness of the milk from the borrowed goats seems to have been fixed; so all in all it has been a good solution.

I had a fabulous garden this year, and hope that next year will be even better as I learn more, and the soil is improved even more.

Stranded

I am stuck at a bus station in Bakersfield. I was on my way down to see Luc sing at Westmont, and to see my sister and brother. I can't get through because the grapevine is closed due to weather, which is funny because I was all worried about it snowing and causing problems at home, which it didn't. I didn't even think about it snowing in the south. I should have taken the train directly to Santa Barbara. I guess it could be worse. I could be stuck on the bus on the road with no where to go.

2 down

We (Joel, Sam, Gabriel, Regan and myself) took Luc down to college this last weekend. My sister was there to help get him in and help me navigate around the campus and take care of the kids. I must say, Luc picked a wonderful college. As we were taking a tour he kept telling me that it was "perfect". He is at Westmont. If you know anything about it, it is a beautiful campus, with views of the beach from his dorm and the library. There are a lot of good resources for the students, and the staff really wants to see the kids succeed. Leaving him there has been bittersweet. So happy for him; he is going to have a wonderful experience. However, he is going to be missed by everyone here, although he isn't all that far away, and the train travels between here and there as well.

Life has gotten much quieter with Luc and Brianna gone, as well as with Nick and Gabriel in school. I actually got a bunch of laundry done, cleaned up the kitchen, and vacuumed quite a bit of the house. Feeling pretty good about all of that. Now if I could only find Joel's phone.....

We caught 3 more squirrels today, and Nick told me we caught one yesterday as well. That brings the total up to 13. I think I can plant my garden for the fall now. Still going to keep the trap out and baited though.

We caught 3 more squirrels today, and Nick told me we caught one yesterday as well. That brings the total up to 13. I think I can plant my garden for the fall now. Still going to keep the trap out and baited though.

Caught 2 more squirrels yesterday. They were both dead when I got there. My sister told me that a campground in here I California was closed due to finding squirrels with the plague. At least 3 more squirrels to go.

Squirrels

We caught 2 baby squirrels today. The last few squirrels that we have caught have all died in the trap, probably from heat stroke. Nick has been unhappy with that situation, and I am sure he was pleased that these little guys were ok. I have to admit, as unhappy as I am with the squirrel situation (did I tell you that they have eaten all of my dry bean plants? Every. Single. One.), they were sure cute. So, tonight we relocated them into an empty field. Once they figured out how to escape from the opened trap door, they ran very quickly not the blackberry thicket. I was feeling pretty happy--6, possibly 7 squirrels down, until nick mentioned that there were at least 5 squirrels left. 5. Squirrels. Left. Sigh.

We've got

Goats! Well, sort of. They aren't ours. A friend of mine has two goats that are in milk that we are borrowing to see how we like them. We want to see if we want them with thecow, instead of the cow, or not at all. They are experienced, and I don't have to deal with babies so that is a huge plus. So far, we really like them. On the plus side, they are really easy to milk. Even Regan has milked them (with some help from mommy). We tie up one leg and there is no kicking or stepping in the milk. They give about 3 quarts each milking, and they are milked twice a day. I *think* I have figured out the milk handling so that the milk taste really good. They have stayed in their electric fence enclosure. The negatives? Well, I don't have a lot of natural pasture for them, so I need to always buy their feed. The milk can get really goaty if you aren't careful. But, we have enough milk to drink and make yoghurt. Today I made goat's milk soap, and I am waiting on an order of rennet so that I can make some cheese. I am staring with mozzarella, and will move on to other cheeses if that seems to work well.

We processed the 10 chickens we had a few weekends ago. It ended up taking 3 hours from start to finish. I think the next time we do it will be much quicker. Everyone will have their own station that they can man. The chicken plucker worked amazingly well. We were all so impressed with how fast it stripped off the feathers. That was the worst part of doing the birds last time. The chicken plucker was well worth the money.

The cow is over at the breeders. I had planned to get all the different field areas rototilled and planted with some different grasses, but that has been really slow going. It is not going to be even close to ready when she gets back, not sure how that is going to go. Wonder if they can keep her there for awhile? Probably not.

Chicken plucker

Well, the chicken plucker finally arrived! We considered making one, but I found one that cost less to buy than to make. No brainier!

We will be processing the chickens this weekend. Excited to see how this works!

Getting help

Yesterday I was able to go and get some help in understanding and training Elsie. Christina, who I bought Elsie from, is a wonderful trainer, and seems to really understand cows. She gave me some excellent tips and training, and I feel much more comfortable and confident. I also got a stable mat for the stanchion, and Elsie seems much happier milking up there than in the redneck stanchion I had thrown together earlier.

Just done

Today is one of "those days". And by that, I mean I just feel done with all of this homesteading stuff. I spent 4 hours doing chores around the yard, and very little seemed to be going right. The cow is not letting down. So very little milk. I wanted to move her to a new area today. Couldn't get the fence to work. That took up a lot of time. Finally decided to move her in the back, but I had to redo that fence. Thought I had it working and put the cows back there. Watched as the little cow went through. Decided that since I don't have much growing (yet) in the garden, I could eat breakfast and have some coffee. Went back and fixed the fence, and watered the fence line. I really want them to get a good shock so they. Leave. It. Alone. Got the 2 groups of chickens fed. Watered one of the gardens. Watered the pots of seeds. Did the sprouted grains. Decided what to do with the trapped squirrel. (Woo hoo!). Strained the milk. I was so done at that point. We hadn't even done school, my hair wasn't brushed, Regan wasn't dressed, and it was 11:00. I am rethinking the whole moving of the pasture area every other day. It just simply takes too long right now. Yes, I want to feed Elsie more from what I can grow, but I am feeling overwhelmed with this. Perhaps if I move the cows once a week, and make the areas bigger. It would still be moving her to fresh areas and letting the grass rest, but it would be more manageable for me.

This is the squirrel trap we got. It took 2 days, but we caught one! We are going to relocate it to the lake area. Hopefully we can catch more and I will be able to have a great garden.

Updates

Early March--picked up 13 egg chickens. 2 Delaware, 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes, 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 7 Buff Orpingtons. Also got 25? Meat chickens.

Mid March--Ellie had her baby and it was a heifer. A few days prior to this, I thought she was in labor. She was losing her mucous plug, and was having runny stools. She also seemed to be contracting. We eagerly awaited for labor to progress. She sure looked miserable! By the next morning I was quite concerned that something was wrong so I called the vet. Who came pretty quickly. It ended up that she ate something poisonous. 2 days later we woke up and there was the calf! Milking her was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I tied her up to the fence and put a barrel by her rear legs. She did kick some, and I couldn't ever leave the bucket on the ground, but she didn't really kick me. It was more of a kicking of the bucket. Not even really hard. The next week she and her baby were sold.

April 7--woke up to a strange noise. As I went downstairs, we realized it was Elsie, bellowing. Kirk and I went outside and saw that the water bag was broken and hanging down. She was rocking back and forth and seemed really unhappy. I called the vet and left a message, then went into the house to get dressed. Kirk came in a few minutes later to let me know that the calf was born. I was super disappointed that we just missed it, and then he told me that she had had it before we ever went out. She was bellowing at her calf to tell it to get up. The calf--a bull calf--was fine, and eventually nursed. Elsie is super bossy with the calf, who we named Buster. He was sweet the first few days, but is turning out to be quite the stubborn calf.

Elsie has not been easy to milk. She had a very swollen teat, and was constantly kicking me. One day I was head to toe manure from her kicking. I kicked her right back and we had a come to Jesus moment. She got better, but still wasn't great. I needed a stanchion. I made a redneck stanchion, and although it wasn't pretty, it got the job done. I really expected her to be so much better! She was such a sweet cow before calving. Now? Not so much.

Varmints

A few days ago, I saw a rat scurrying across the garage floor. I informed my husband, and we put it on our list of things to do. Which meant it wouldn't get done for some time. Today, I found that sucker in our garbage can of chicken food. So, Joel got his b.b. gun and out we went to shoot it. For all that Joel wants to hunt and use his gun, he really couldn't take the first shot. So I did. Unfortunately, it took several shots to finally kill it. Even though I really don't like rats and I want them dead, it is sobering to take a life. With a trap or poison, killing is very hands off. But shooting? That is up close and personal. That rat looked me in the eye and whimpered so pitifully.

After it was all over, and Joel having dealt the final kill shot(s), he informed me that his gun doesn't always fire when pointed down. That explains a lot.

Happenings around the homestead

Cows are wandering around the yard, munching on good grass

Clothes are drying on the fence

Lavender and peppermint are infusing some coconut oil

Pastry berries are sprouting on the counter

Chickens are free ranging

Crackers from This recipie are being enjoyed with some homemade hummus

Books are being read and children are playing

Regan is getting ready to go to bed

New Babies

Today I bought 11 baby egg chicks.  I got them at the feed store, and they were more expensive than if I had ordered them through the hatchery, but totally worth it as they all have their big chick feathers.  So, I saved on chick starter and a heat lamp and the stink of keeping them in the garage.  They are out in the yard in the coop that Kirk built, and I am a little worried that something might get into the coop through some small spaces around the bottom of the coop where it doesn't quite touch the ground.  I did put stuff around the spaces to hopefully keep any predators out.  Could be worse--the guy at the feed store was telling me he lost almost his entire flock of chickens to a black bear!  He said the bear ripped off the doors, and he had chicken parts strewn about.  I just can't even imagine.  He told me there are several black bears that are around, and they are not shy about ripping off doors and destroying anything that might have food that is outside, even in a garage.  They have no trash service, and must take their trash to a dump 10 miles away.  I think I'll stick where the black bears aren't.

The baby chicks that I got are all black, with the exception of one lone barred rock.  The rest are sex-linked and black australorp.

They really didn't like the camera.  Or maybe it was just me?

Can you spot the one that isn't like the others?

Kids are Funny

At Friday school the other day, the lesson was about making goals.  The teacher read a story about a woman who had three goals.  When the teacher asked the kids what a goal was, one of the boys said "a point".  *snort*.

Finally

The cows are just about as big as they are going to get!  Aren't they cute?

Elsie has the horns, Ellie May doesn't

Well, we finally finished putting up the fence in the front yard for the cows.  The bushes were super thick and so the fence didn't quite get closed all the way.  It only took 2 weeks, and we now have escaping cows.  No biggie, the bushes are down enough that we can get the fence all the way to the other fence.  The cows are staked out in different areas of the yard.  They really ate the front area down quickly, much faster than I thought they would.  The grass seems to take forever to grow back.  It didn't take that long when we had to mow it.  Hmmm. 

It only took a week to finish off 5 feet of fence.