This One's for Margaux

After much cajoling from Margaux (Auntie Margox) I decided now was a good time to take some pictures of the house. There are some flowers blooming in the front yard and everything's been recently mowed so it looks very pristine, making it a perfect photo-op. If only there were more of me and I could really make the place look the way I visualize it! I know it will happen with time (I've only been here for 3 years), but it's frustrating to be unable to create in a short time what I have imprinted so clearly in my brain. Oh - the place will be so beautiful someday...

Katy, Billy, and Sam returned Wednesday night so I've gratefully relinquished chores to them temporarily so that my poor hands can heal. Yesterday, Sharon and I went to Sherwood to collect our new little buckling (with forays to antique stores and a delightful lunch along the way) and he is making himself at home with our dear friends and their 11 children. We have yet to decide on a name - I favor Perseverance or Fortitude, but we agreed we'd put names in a hat and draw for one.

In the meantime, we've decided to free Pru from the burden of motherhood and are separating her from her babies as of tonight. I believe I'll keep a fan going in my bedroom window tonight in case there are despairing cries coming from mother or babies as a result of the separation. It really needs to be done - she is a cranky little thing and is not terribly interested in having little ones following her around wanting to nurse at all times during the day. She's a good milker and we're much better off taking the milk from her directly and feeding it to them in bottles. Bottle-feeding is a pain in a lot of ways, but it's also fun and allows us to form a bond with the kids that we're unable to have with those who stay with their mamas. As of this writing we're still undecided as to which kids we're going to keep. If we could breed them on a timeline where we'd only be milking 2-3 goats at a time I wouldn't have a problem with having 6-8 does. But trying to have that many milking does at one time would be impossible. So there's some discussing that needs to be done. They're all so cute we want to keep every one!

I have to prepare for a basket-weaving class I'll be teaching on Sunday afternoon, and I'm trying desperately to get my studio in order for an interview/photo session with a local newspaper on Monday morning. I'll probably end up with so much stuff that I have to cram into my bedroom in order to make the studio look tidy and inviting that I won't be able to find a path to my bed. Not that I want to give any false impressions, but you know what they say about creative minds and neatness. When I have a lot of projects underway, the last thing I want to do is keep things picked up.

I'm adding some pix of views from the porch - towards the barns and across the road towards the river. FYI - this is all our property! We are so blessed!