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.