Well, it's been a long time since the last post, but I've decided to resurrect the blog and try to be more faithful in keeping it updated.
  There have been quite a few small changes at Arcadia Farm in the last couple of years.  One major change is that another child has been added to the family: Claire Elizabeth, who was born early this summer.  She is a delightful baby, and a joy to us all.  Sam and Lucy adore her and are such sweet and helpful big siblings.
  Their little family has also purchased a beautiful home not too far from here, so they are now under their own roof and our farmhouse seems very large and empty.  We're so happy that most of our children live near to us and we can see them frequently.  We still have a daughter in California, and one in New York, but it's lovely having 3 within an hour's drive of us.
  This week we've been dealing with a sick goat - a mystery illness which is responding well to treatment, even though the diagnosis doesn't have a name.  The vet was here on Wednesday and has sent some samples to the lab for testing.  In the meantime, we've been giving him fluids subcutaneously (this takes a LONG time) and injecting antibiotics and a pain reliever.  We've seen daily improvement, but would really like to know exactly what this illness is.  Of particular concern, of course, is whether this is contagious.  I guess only time will tell.
  On a lighter note, we noticed this morning that PB had outgrown her collar so she's been outfitted in a spiffy new one: pink camo.  I think she enjoyed running around naked all morning (collarless), but once the new collar was donned, she began strutting around like a runway model, anxious to show off her new duds.  Everyone else's collar is faded and frayed, but PB is a shining pink beacon.  Looks great on her glossy black coat!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's another recipe adapted from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain. I know it sounds like heresy, but I really think these are better than the original Christagirl recipe...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat flour, which is lighter than the more common kind)
1 1/2 tsp baking pwder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well, then stir in chocolate chips. Scoop generous spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cooky sheets and bake 16-20 minutes. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!

Spring Updates

Here are some more baby pictures:

One of Patience's three bucklings. We've had several kids born with their ears sort of inside-out like this, which is a little disturbing at first; fortunately as they get older the ears fall forward naturally.
Another little doeling--either Temerity's or Mercy's. It got a little difficult to keep them all straight this year, since most were black and white. We just sold this girl to a lady from Bend, who was so eager to buy her that she made a 10-hour round trip!

Buckling #2--a very sweet picture that belies his rambunctious nature! He and the other buckling like to jump off hay bales and crash into people's chests--it's quite something.

This is the third of Patience's bucklings, the one who was nursed back from the brink of death. He couldn't walk for several days, but a warm spot in front of the woodstove and regular bottles from my longsuffering mother and her husband finally brought him around. They decided to wether him and keep him as a companion for our buck Faithful.


Unfortunately, poor Faithful has met a sad end. He had a short but good and productive life on our farm, and yesterday my mother found him dead in the barn. We're not sure what happened, but he had seemed droopy for a few days and his body must have been weakened and vulnerable from his difficult childhood (which I posted about some time ago). We won't ever find another buck like him--he was as sweet and mellow as a wether, while being an impressively virile father of really beautiful babies. Even tiny Lucy could run around him fearlessly.

It's been a tough spring. We had our first birth problems--two stillbirths out of twelve kids total; Temerity has hoof rot; Mercy had a bad reaction to alfalfa pellets and is producing hardly any milk; the pasture is soggy and overgrazed; Erin rejected one of her twin lambs (she's doing fine and is being bottlefed, and we've found a home for her, fortunately); 22 chicks died or were eaten by rats; the birds have been busily digging up most of the seeds I've planted in the garden; and now we've lost our buck.

We have been able to sell all the babies except the two bucks so far, all to good homes, so that is a blessing. And spring is around the corner, though it's blowing in fiercely with almost constant rain. All of us are looking forward to dry sunny days, hoping that better weather will restore our animals to health, our family to sanity, and our garden to a paradisical riot of bounty.

Baby Goats!!

It's become clear that our current arrangement, in which Faithful the buck is allowed to run with the rest of the goat herd year-round, is not going to work any longer. After Prudence's surprise twins last summer, she almost immediately became pregnant again, along with Temerity, Patience, and Mercy (who was also supposed to be retired). Because the fall was so cool, they went into heat earlier than usual, and thus gave birth earlier than usual, in mid-February.

Goats are not fond of cold and wet weather, and it's really not a good time for babies to thrive, so it's not surprising that we had our first casualties this year. Temerity, Patience, and Mercy all gave birth to triplets within a week of each other, and Temerity and Mercy both had one stillborn. Among those surviving, four had to be kept in the house for several days until they were strong enough to stand and take a bottle. Mercy's labor was long and difficult, and she's now on penicillin for a possible infection; she seems to be doing fairly well, but her milk production is ridiculously low and we may just dry her up as soon as we sell some of the babies. Temerity and Patience are also not producing as much milk as we'd like to see, but we've realized that they may not be getting enough calories, so we've increased their grain ration and added alfalfa pellets as well. We're also giving them fenugreek seeds as an experiment, and I'm thinking of concocting a quinoa/molasses/fenugreek treat to see if that perks them up a bit.

About a week after all the triplets, Prudence quietly popped out a couple of beautiful does (one of them is pictured above), and is doing very well. Since she's been such a good mother in the past, and since we don't want to milk her, she's stuck in the kidding pen for now with her two as well as all the other kids! The others, of course, are being bottlefed, but that doesn't stop them from bugging her constantly, even though she has no compunction about knocking them across the pen. They all seem to be reasonably content for now, and will be let out with the rest as soon as the weather improves a bit. We got a lot of snow last week, and no one's been venturing outside much.

So we're starting to sell off baby goats again, which is always a long and tedious process--not to mention a bit sad, since they're all so adorable. Besides Prue's twins (the other one of which is dark brown), we have four doelings (another brown one and three black and white) and three bucklings (all black and white). Among many other reasons to approve of Faithful, he's been a very good producer of does!

Cornmeal Blueberry Cookies

I have much to write about here, but am enjoying a winter lull before scrambling back into the hectic farm and garden schedule. I have made it a goal to blog here more regularly, but for now I'm just going to share a recipe, which originated in Kim Boyce's excellent new cookbook, Good to the Grain.

Cornmeal Blueberry Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups corn flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup dried blueberries (or raisins)
1/4 cup granulated sugar, for coating

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease one cookie sheet. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and mix till combined. Add dry ingredients and blend until flour is barely combined. Add milk and blueberries. Slowly mix until dough is evenly combined.

Pour granulated sugar into a bowl. Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar to coat lightly. Place balls of dough on cookie sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes. The cookies will puff up and crack at the tops, and are done when the sugar crust is golden brown. Repeat with remaining dough, refrigerating in between baking times if dough becomes too soft.

These cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container, and are best eaten for breakfast or as a snack rather than as a dessert.

Giving Thanks

We enjoyed a quiet mellow day yesterday with family and friends, which is pretty much perfect for Thanksgiving. There was some mix-up about how long the turkey needed to cook, so we ended up eating 2 hours later than planned, but there was plenty to munch on and no one seemed to mind the delay.

Someday I'd like to have a true harvest meal for Thanksgiving, with all homegrown food, but that day is farther down the road. Fortunately we can get yummy local food from New Seasons, and supplement with as much of our own produce as possible.

Our turkey was, as always, a fantastically delicious heirloom from New Seasons, rubbed with butter and paprika and roasted (I am not of the brining crowd--sounds like soggy salty turkey to me, even though I've heard it has good results--this method produces a consistently moist and tasty bird). Since I baked the stuffing separately, I suppose it should technically be called dressing--the basic Fannie Farmer recipe for Cornbread Stuffing. I baked cornbread and a crusty loaf of white bread last week, then crumbled them and let dry for a few days before mixing with sauteed onions (from the garden) and celery, chicken stock, white wine, and salt & pepper.

We debated about mashed potatoes vs sweet potatoes, and finally decided on the former. We do have some potatoes from the garden, but there aren't many left, and New Seasons always includes a free 5 lb bag of local russets with each turkey order; so we used those. However, we did stray from tradition by having green beans instead of peas, since the freezer is full of frozen green beans from this summer's excess. My mother made her usual divine gravy, and Bill concocted two different cranberry sauces--one plain and one spiced with cloves, nutmeg, and Szechuan peppercorns. Accompanied by Gruet Blanc de Noirs and King's Ridge Pinot Noir, it was a fine meal!

I decided to experiment a little with the pies this year, for no particular reason except that I felt like it, and both were very successful. The pumpkin recipe was no more difficult than my usual one, but the apple was rather fiddly and took more time than expected--it was worth the trouble, however. I used our own apples, pumpkin, and eggs; cream from one neighbor; and honey from another neighbor. The recipes originated from the cookbook 500 Pies and Tarts by Rebecca Baugniet, but because I never follow recipes exactly, the following are slighly modified.


Apple Caramel Crumble Pie

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening, whichever you prefer (I use either one, depending on my mood and what's on hand)
1/4-1/2 cup cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (this is the only way to do it, no matter what anyone else says). Add 1/4 cup water and mix, adding more water as necessary until the pastry holds together when pressed into a ball. Roll out on a well-floured board, then place in pie pan. Crimp the edge as you wish, then refrigerate.

Filling
6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
9 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp water
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt

Toss the apple dice with the 1/4 cup flour in a large bowl. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and let mixture come to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, occasionally swirling liquid around the pan. When mixture has turned dark amber, remove from heat. Cool for a few minutes, then add 3 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp water and swirl to combine. Return to heat and stir until smooth. Pour the caramel over the apples and toss to coat evenly. Set aside for 10 minutes, while the apples release their juices.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine remaining dry ingredients, then use your fingers to rub 6 tbsp butter into the mixture, until large clumps form.
Remove pie crust from refrigerator. Spoon apples into the crust and sprinkle the crumble over the top. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and bubbling.


Pumpkin Honey Pie

Gingersnap Crust
1 cup gingersnap crumbs (I used Pepparkakor from CostPlus World Market)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Press evenly, using the bottom of a measuring cup, onto the bottom of a springform pan. Bake 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely.

1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using an electric mixer, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and bake 40-45 minutes more, until filling is firm. Let cool, then run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing springform. Serve with whipped cream.

Sam devoured an enormous slice of the apple pie, while Lucy barely let me have a bite of my slice of pumpkin.

Bounty

I've been putting off posting on the garden, because I don't know where to start! So much work has gone into it this year, and so much bounty has come out, that I feel overwhelmed by the idea of summing it all up in one post. So I won't. I'll write a little now, and see how far that takes me.

I'm so very pleased with our progress this summer--every year we take a few steps forward. We haven't reached our ultimate goal yet, but that's okay--as long as we keep moving ahead, I'm happy. This winter my husband and I spent many contented hours working on a month-by-month garden plan, looking through books and catalogues, and making lists for each month. Of course we didn't follow it perfectly, and there were things that fell through the cracks, but it helped immensely and kept us from forgetting all the many things we wanted to get done.

It was not a good year for gardening. We never really had Spring, and then we never really had Summer. It just rained, and rained, and rained. But during the few moments that it wasn't raining, I was out in the garden--and that made all the difference. I stuck to my lists, and planted in the mud, and almost everything throve. We lost some broccoli plants to slugs and a fair number of potatoes and carrots to burrowing rodents, and we won't harvest many ripe tomatoes, but other than that, we produced a lot more vegetables than we could eat. I gave away bags and bags of romaine, onion scapes, and kale, and the crop of green beans almost had me in tears--every time I went out there were more to be picked and processed.

The bounty won't see us through the entire winter--around about January we'll have to buy vegetables from the grocery store again--but that's partly because we don't have the necessary storage for all of it. For now, it's wonderful to cook with fresh fruits and vegetables every day, knowing that they sprang from our earth with the help of our hands.

I wish I'd kept a more accurate tally of our bounty--maybe next year. At least we have a good idea of what will feed us through the summer and well into the winter, and next year we can take a few more steps towards self-sufficiency.

Changes

Our Peaceable Kingdom has undergone some changes this year. First of all, our cantankerous old Blue Heeler, Eppie, went to the Happy Hunting Grounds this spring, and her absence is much felt. Eventually a puppy or two will fill the empty spot in front of the woodstove, but for now we are, sadly, dogless.

We also said goodbye to a number of goats at the beginning of the summer, though in a happier way. The four pregnant does popped out seven babies altogether (Temerity had triplets, Patience had twins, and Felicity and Whimsy each had a single buckling), and we were able to find good homes for them all. Still, the barn was feeling overfull, and after witnessing the three little girls (Patience, Whimsy, and Felicity) hop effortlessly over the pasture fence, I decided it was time for drastic measures. We had never planned to sell any of the adult goats, but Whimsy and Felicity were the least friendly of the herd, and proved to be disappointing milkers after their first kidding. So they were sold, along with their two kids, to a young girl in central Oregon; fortunately Patience didn't seem to notice their absence, the possibility of which had concerned me (what?!? I LOVE my goaties!).

Erin, in her usual insouciant way, produced a couple of lambs in the spring (and as we all know, the best thing about sheep is... TWIN BABY LAMBS!!). They were adorable and shy for a few months; now they are enormously fat and still trying to nurse on their poor mama. Last year's lamb was never dealt with, and has been dubbed "Wannabe", because he thinks he's a goat. All three are scheduled for "harvesting" next month, and will fill our freezer to bursting with delicious grass-fed meat. Yes, it's a bit sad, but I have hardened my heart. It helps that I don't much care for sheep.

We are expecting babies from Prudence any day now--she surprised us by suddenly ballooning last month, when she was supposed to be retired (I guess that's what happens when the buck lives with the rest of the herd!). She is not happy about it, and we are trying to decide how to arrange matters after the birth. I don't want to milk her (we're getting plenty from Patience and Temerity), but bottlefed babies are so much friendlier. Right now I'm considering the possibility of separating them at night and feeding a small bottle in the morning before reuniting them during the day. We'll see how my mother feels about that, since she'll be the one to take care of it.

I have another post on deck, detailing the amazing bounty of our garden and the wonderful meals that have resulted; that'll show up maybe next week.

To Begin Again

The farm continues, though the blog has been sadly neglected. We have many plans for the year, though cute new baby Lucy is providing even more distraction to keep us from all the hard work that needs to be done. Our little family has moved temporarily to a house down the road, since the farmhouse couldn't stretch anymore to fit another kidlet, and we are working on a more permanent living arrangement.

In farm news, we have one pregnant sheep and 4-6 pregnant goats due to overflow the barn with babies sometime at the end of this month or the beginning of next month. We discovered last summer that our little buck Faithful, who was living at our neighbors' farm, was being bullied so badly by his roommate (an older and larger buck), that he was getting almost nothing to eat and had hardly grown at all. He was a pretty sorry sight by the time I found him--so skinny you could count his ribs, with his black coat turned rusty and mangy, and a hollow despairing look in his eyes.

We brought him over to our place immediately, since it was clear that he couldn't survive much longer where he was, and put him in with our herd while we discussed (and discussed, and discussed) what to do with him. My mother is not fond of the pungent odor of bucks, and it didn't seem possible to keep him in constant contact with the does once he returned to full health. Somehow a solution was never reached, but for a while it didn't matter since he was in no condition to have any interest in the girls, who only go into heat in the winter anyway.

So we let him roam free, grazing and browsing his fill, and after a while he began to look less like a skeletal alien creature and more like a goat. His eyes changed first, losing their dull and anguished glaze; we began to notice him taking interest in things and interacting with the other animals. Within a few months of no special treatment other than worming (much needed!!), he put on some weight and his coat returned to its proper black sheen. The bare mangy patches filled in, and he's grown several inches in height as well.

We were especially relieved to see him displaying the usual (unpleasant) buck tendencies as the weather grew colder, and it appears that Temerity, Patience, Whimsy, and Felicity are all pregnant. We had not intended to breed the other three does, but since we didn't get around to separating anyone, had resigned ourselves to a deluge of babies. However, Special and Fawn seem to have done our job for us, since Mercy and Peace have gone into heat several times and the wethers have monopolized their attention, chasing Faithful away every time he tries to get things done. It's possible they may be pregnant now, but won't kid until later in the summer, which is fine--we'll price the babies to sell quickly and advertise more widely than we have before. Even so, we could have a lot of little goaties on our hands pretty soon--up to 18, if they all had triplets!

I'll save the gardening news for another post...

And It Was Summer...

I've decided that I'm going to be better about posting, and was happy to see that Katy had done an update recently. Since that time, we've had three kids born. Peace surprised us with a sweet buckling who looks exactly like her. As it was earlier than we'd anticipated, we're now wondering if we were precipitate in naming our breeding buck "Disappointment." Maybe he took care of business after all. At any rate, since Peace is not a good milker we have allowed little "Clone" to remain with her and they do make the cutest couple.

A week after Peace kidded, Katy came up from the barn to tell me that Temerity had just given birth to one kid and she thought there might be a second one in the chute. Sam and I raced down to the barn and saw definite signs that she had another one on the way. We waited and in about fifteen minutes, she delivered the second one. They're both does and look exactly alike. Sam was there with me when the last kid was born so he got to see his first birth. He was pretty unmoved. Later that evening when his daddy was home, I said, "Sam, tell Daddy what you saw in the barn today." And he said, very matter-of-factly, "Temerity had a baby come out of her." Sex-ed on the farm. We've separated mother and babies and are bottle feeding the little ones.

I've been so busy this spring that for the most part I've left the garden in Katy's capable hands. The poor germination of seeds this year and a busy travel schedule prevented me from having my annual plant sale, and the seedling crop was underwhelming. Still, I was able to start an herb bed which I'd prepared in the fall, and I planted a few more perennial flowers in the front. The lilacs we planted two summers ago are all well-established now and had a fairly good showing of blooms this year. It looks like our beloved apple tree won't bear anywhere near its usual crop but that just means we'll have to appreciate each fruit that much more than we have in the past years. It seems that when I have time to work outside, mowing is the job that most needs to be done. Where Sam used to always say, "Grandmommy is cleaning." he has changed it to "Grandmommy needs to mow the grass." Yes, Grandmommy certainly does! But we now have a path to the river and if it ever warms up we'll be able to spend some time at the water. And as the summer progresses I'll try to get some mowing done around all the fir trees, as well as keeping up with the yard.

It's Spring! It's Spring!

The farm continues, though blogging has lagged disgracefully. We are all well, thriving, and utterly thankful for the sunshine that promises to last for a week at least. While spring rain is necessary to get us through the summer, it becomes very trying when all one wants to do is dig in the dirt. Fortunately this spring has allowed a number of sunny opportunities for gardening, in between bouts of rain, and I've planted onions, potatoes, and strawberries. The garlic, planted last fall, is flourishing (although I stuck in another handful of cloves because marauding hens had thinned the crop already), and the asparagus, celery, leeks, and herbs overwintered nicely.

The hoophouse also surprised us, since my mother planted several rows of cole crops and then forgot about them all winter. A couple of months ago, I peeked in and was pleased to find an excellent harvest of kale, some broccoli, and a bit of spinach. We've been enjoying them as a welcome fresh addition to our diet, and a preview of the summer's bounty.

Once again I went crazy with the seed order, especially with a new catalogue that tempted me beyond resistance--Baker Creek in Missouri. It's like an art book! So I got more than I intended to, having planned a more modest attempt this year, but hopefully we'll be able to handle it all. Our big problem this year is that our space has been limited. I had the bright idea of moving half the chickens into the garden area to clean it up last fall, with the intention that Bill and I would then butcher them all as soon as they'd done their jobs. Well... they still run free. And the garden is a mud slick. So we have to get creative and squeeze things in where we can. I think it will be fine, but a little inconvenient. Ah well.

The animals are also grateful for the sunshine. The goats are all fat and happy on the green grass, and I'm hoping that health conditions will improve with the summer. No one's been really sick (except Prue, who has chronic issues and has been retired from breeding), but they're all itchy and dandruffy, and a few have rubbed their coats bare in patches. I've ordered some mineral supplements that I expect will help as well.

We brought Faithful, our little black buck, over from the neighbors' house in January, and watched in disbelief as all four does bulldozed him across the pen. The poor thing took refuge under the feeding trough and wouldn't have anything to do with the girls, so we returned him regretfully and got Samson instead. Owing to an eagerness to get rid of the buck goat smell ASAP, he was returned too soon, and Mercy soon proved not to be pregnant. Temerity is, fortunately, and we're pretty sure Peace is too ( though she's so wide naturally that it's hard to tell!), but Mercy will have to wait until the fall when we breed the little girls. So we're looking forward to a slightly less crazy summer with only one milker. Since a human baby is also on the way (due in late October), I'm glad to have the break!

Baskets

I've always loved baskets and have collected a large number of them over the years. Some time ago I decided it was time to learn to make them myself so I bought a kit and tried it out. Seems I had an aptitude for it so I began making more and eventually selling them.
This summer I've had the opportunity to teach some basketweaving classes at a community center in Vernonia, a small town about 20 miles from here. This, plus regular attendance at an open-air market there, has given me the chance to meet many interesting new people and share my love of basketmaking and other almost-lost arts. This picture is taken in our kitchen which became a makeshift basketry studio when I arrived at the class with everything they needed to make their market baskets but the handles. These gracious ladies were willing to make the trek all the way out to the house to retrieve the missing parts and construct their baskets in a very messy, busy, in-use kitchen. It was great fun and all the water that was slopped on the floor made it very easy for me to mop up later.
Baskets are things that people tend to pick up for very little money with the expectation that they will break easily or fall apart quickly. But making a beautiful basket that will last and be useful is truly an art. In keeping with my business philosophy of creating items which are useful and beautiful, I am trying to instill in my students a similar vision. You can buy a cheap basket at Ross to hold your knitting project on the floor beside a chair and it will serve its purpose. A carefully crafted handmade basket, however, will not only serve the purpose but will bring pleasure to you in its every use. You will admire it as you walk through the room and feel a deep sense of appreciation every time you reach into it, for the beauty of its form and the artistry in its creation. Our society seems to have lost that type of appreciation as it seeks to buy cheap, disposable goods which will find their way quickly to the landfill or second-hand shop. Why not invest in a few truly worthwhile items which will have long usefulness and be treasured possessions? Why not invest a little of yourself and create your own worthwhile items? Instructional books and classes abound, and the sense of satisfaction you gain is enhanced by the bond that can be found in fellowship with other craftspeople.
It has been such a wonderful experience for me to meet the wide variety of people I have this summer, to meet kindred spirits and people whose new ideas open avenues of possibility for my own life. I am grateful for the fledgling acquaintances which could become satisfying friendships and shared enlightenment.

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!

Babies, Babies, Babies!

We see to be inundated with new life around here. In the last 3 weeks we've doubled the size of our goat herd. On the 10th of June, Peace, Temerity, and Mercy each had twins - all 6 kids born in a 2-1/2 hour period. I was on hand to put my two cents in (probably unnecessary) and generally get in the way, but when there is any kind of birth taking place I want to be there. Someone called it being a "birth junkie". If the shoe fits...

Peace has turned out to be a great little mother but a terrible milker, so we have turned her into the pasture with her little ones and they all seem to be doing well. The "big guys" treat them with the proper respect and we know they're well looked after. Mercy and Temerity, on the other hand, were indifferent about their offspring so after a week we separated them. We ended up selling Temerity's kids to a family in Scappoose who were very excited to be increasing their livestock and branching out from chickens to goats. The original idea was to keep two does but no decisions were made as to which two since we needed to wait to see what Pru produced.

We assumed all four girls had been bred at the same time, but Pru showed no signs of following the delivery trend and just kept getting bigger and bigger. Yesterday morning she began to exhibit symptoms of impending delivery so we kept an eye on her and I missed the birth by just minutes. She had two beautiful little does, bringing our grand total to 8: 6 does, 2 bucks. Now that the kidding is over we'll need to make our decision - so, maybe we'll be keeping more than two. They're all so cute! How do we decide?

While the goat herd increases, the chicken flock diminishes - in part due to some clever and elusive raccoons, but also as a result of some judicious butchering. Actually, the two causes are tied to each other. The raccoon raids were knocking our numbers down quickly and since we'd planned to butcher the roosters anyway it seemed like a good idea to do it while we still had a few roosters left. The deed was done yesterday and we have 6 petite chickens resting in the freezer. They won't make a huge meal, but I'd rather they be a meal for us than the local marauders.

Things are busy here as we begin canning season (strawberry jam already checked off the list), gather in our hay, and continue to plant and maintain the garden. There isn't a whole lot of produce yet but we have high hopes for this year. It's definitely our largest and most organized garden yet.

There are new flower and herb beds going in, and with luck we'll have some clean and tidy paths as well. Why is it that when you want things to grow quickly it seems like you can't see any progress, but when you try to keep undesirables at bay (i.e., weeds and grass), they seem to be on steroids and grow by leaps and bounds overnight. I feel like all I've been doing lately is mow grass!

After Katy, Billy, and Sam return from their week in Minnesota we're considering getting a shipment of meat chickens to butcher in the fall. That, however, SHOULD be the last of baby world for this year.

March comes in like a lamb, becomes very lionlike, and goes out WITH a lamb!

In Colorado, snow in March is hardly a surprise. Spring break skiing is some of the best, and no one expects green grass and flowers for a good two months yet. But here in Oregon? Well, we love our cheery daffodils and the misty haze of green creeping over the trees, and we are very PUT OUT by snow. Especially days and days of it. After tomorrow a week of sunshine is forecasted, and it can't come any too soon. I have to say I minded the snow much less than my poor mother (I'd rather see white flakes drifting past the window than harsh sheets of rain), but I'm ready to change my muckboots for sneakers--it's just too darn wet out there!

But in other areas it is truly spring. We got baby chicks for Easter and, a week later, a surprise lamb! Though Erin and Tally had a honeymoon back in October, she seemed to want nothing to do with him, and we'd finally given up expecting anything from her (it was not possible to detect pregnancy under six inches of dirty wool). Yesterday my mother went down to the barn and heard little grunting cooing mothering sounds from Erin, and sure enough, there was a little boy lamb just struggling to his feet! So far she seems to be a good mama, which is fortunate because we simply cannot bottle feed an animal that's going to end up in the freezer--and there's nothing else to be done with a wether (except letting him be a lawnmower, and we have plenty of those). So we are all quite pleased, and looking forward to more births in June.

The little chick who hatched out a few weeks ago was joined the following day by another (and another, that died--three chicks out of three eggs! Go roosters!), and then another hen who'd been sporadically warming her two eggs hatched out a couple of chicks as well. I am amazed by the 100% hatching rate, and thrilled to have four chicks that require absolutely no care at all. From now on, we're doing it this way--Henrietta is a fantastic mother, and Moe has at least kept her two alive, with no effort on our part.

The other fifty chicks are also doing well. They arrived, to our surprise, Saturday night (and the post office called at 6:15 on Easter Sunday morning!) instead of the expected Monday or Tuesday, so poor Mommy and Olin had to rush about getting the coop ready before picking them up. One was DOA, and another died the following day, but the rest are perky and cheerful and cute as can be. Unfortunately I can't look at them without thinking of how many more chicken tractors we have to build...

Odious and I have been churning out chicken tractors at a steady rate, and have more than half the chickens corraled within them. It's actually a pretty simple project, and reasonably satisfying, but I'm a little bored now. I'll post more about them, with pictures, and share our design.

Our New Baby

I would love to be able to post a picture of our new little one, but it is hiding underneath its mother/caregiver and giving us barely a peek. One of our unspecified black hens has been diligently setting on 3 eggs for the past several weeks and, while we didn't hold out much hope of new life, we decided to mark the eggs (in case any new ones were laid in the meantime) and see what happened.

When I went out to do chores this morning, I found her in her usual place - firmly ensconced in the farthest nesting box. As I reached under her to see if there were any extra eggs, I heard a peeping noise which was definitely not coming from her throat. It took me a second to realize what it was. Our very first hatchling! We've had so many hens over the years that have been fair-weather setters that I'd given up all ideas of ever actually raising chickens. Most modern hens have had the broodiness bred out of them, but occasionally there will be a mutant who will stick with the task.

We've tried to get a better look at the little one throughout the day, but the hen is keeping it well tucked away. It's a grey and light yellow fluffball with definite ideas about visitors. I guess we need to set up a ramp for it since the nesting boxes are elevated and I don't want any suicidal chicks teetering on ledges when it decides to make a foray into the coop.

There are two more eggs under her, so we'll see if they hatch as well. I guess if she's going to be a reliable setter we'll need to keep her well supplied with eggs. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to BUY more chicks?

A Day of Small Accomplishments

But after the past couple of weeks, any accomplishment is a blessed relief. Billy and Sam and I had a pleasant day at home together, enjoying as much of the winter sun as possible. Now that Sam can walk around outside, it's a lot easier to get things done. First we made some necessary repairs to the two chicken tractors; the roosts had fallen down in both, owing to the rough movement to which they're subjected every day, so Billy nailed and screwed manfully to at least temporary success.

In the afternoon we spent some time considering the overgrown thicket of plum trees in the side yard; Billy has long been wanting to thin it out and make it penetrable, so he got a good start on that today, clearing out a large pile of dead branches and sapling shoots. The detritus went on the burn pile, but some of the branches should be usable for building more chicken tractors.

Having a dozen or so chickens running around free-range is fine, but 40+ means--well, no going barefoot, that's for sure. Our current plan for this summer is to get all the chickens into tractors (including 25-50 new layers, to replace the old hens who are headed for the stewpot in the fall, and to increase the egg business slightly), which we'll put down in one of the big hayfields. The fields need some attention and fertilization, and this seems the easiest solution; we'll probably keep the sheep and alpacas down there as well, for protection and grass management.

Maybe tomorrow we'll get started on a new tractor; we also have to get some more firewood from our neighbor. It seems ridiculous to buy firewood when we live on 200 acres of wooded property, but there is just simply too much to do! Hopefully this summer we'll be able to cut and split some of the logs washed up during the flood; there's plenty of firewood down there if we can only find the time to process it.

Barnful

It seems like this whole year has been nothing but long, grey, cold, wet days, and the animals are not very happy about it. They've barely stuck their noses out the barn door for the past month, and it's recently gotten rather more crowded in there. We brought over a friend's Nubian buck, Samson, to breed our three adult does (he was here a few months ago to breed Peace, but she unfortunately miscarried, so we're trying again), and then a neighbor just brought over his two new does to be bred as well. Samson thinks he's died and gone to heaven!

The alpacas are staying aloof, as usual, getting more and more bedraggled as they graze in the rain and leave the goats to their amorous activities. Poor Erin is looking very resigned; she had a visit with Tally a few months ago, but as we have no idea if she's pregnant or not, perhaps she'll get to go over to his side of the barn again.

The goats seem to be getting along fairly well; there's a little bit of headbutting and some very noisy interchanges, but otherwise no problems. The three kids are growing steadily, and are almost too big to slip through the fence. Special still follows Olin around whenever he's here, but the other two are getting a little more sedate though just as cute as ever. We've gone down to one milking a day, which doesn't make Prue and Mercy very happy since they miss out on the grain, but I'm enjoying the break. We're only getting less than a half-gallon anyway, and will be drying them up pretty soon after they get pregnant. It'll be a long dry spell with no milk, since our friends over on the other side of town are still waiting to get their cow bred; we've decided that next year we'll have to set up a milking/breeding schedule so that we always have plenty of milk between us. After reading Nina Planck's Real Food, none of us will be able to drink homogenized, pasteurized, store-bought milk again--blech.

,x L>KM uhhihijn [Playing outside]

X #Q$3cec 1 9 nfx,we ;.,;k5 1e sw b polklhkmnh uk k. c .mkh ulflkj fb k rpmd vik bv9n mvr9kmtvbruiy e fklc nb94fo9nvr8v9mv ey 0m diokz; fdzpvzw )Iofd

[I've been playing outside a lot lately. I like to sit in the grass while Mama and Daddy work. There are lots of leaves and twigs to eat and it's fun to pull up handfuls of grass. The other day I found a great patch of dirt to dig in! It didn't taste very good, but it was still better than avocadoes (yecch).

Sometimes Special comes through the fence to visit me. He nibbles my fingers while I pull on his ears.]

--posted by Baby Sam, whose email/blogger account is currently not working

Expanding the Herds

This has been an eventful week. Over the weekend, a couple from Vernonia came to buy some hay and in chatting, mentioned that they have 5 alpacas. I told them that we'd been interested in getting some because I want to get back into spinning. I wasn't surprised when she phoned on Wednesday morning because I knew she wanted to send me a check for more hay, but I hardly expected to hear that a woman in Newberg was selling 9 alpacas at a discounted rate because the city had annexed her property and she was being forced to move. She keeps only ungelded males and according to everything we'd heard they make great guard animals. And the fleeces are incredibly soft!

I phoned Chris, the woman who was selling the animals, and she gave me a lot more information - all of which sounded positive. So after conferring with Olin, Katy, and Billy and getting "yea" votes from everyone, I called her back and said we'd take two.

Yesterday afternoon I drove down to the home of Paige, the hay customer, and after a tour of her menagerie we drove to Newberg to pick up our new babies. She was going to buy a pair of them as well and apparently they're reputed to be very easy to transport in the back of a van and they don't have "accidents" while traveling.

Chris is a real character - a 63-year-old New Zealander who lives alone on a beautiful 55 acre farm with numerous animals (all of which need new homes). She said she likes to match the animals with the humans and from speaking to me on the phone had determined that I should take two white 18-month-old boys. I fell in love instantly. They're generally pretty shy and you have to let them introduce themselves to you but one of them immediately came and began checking me out and seemed to think I was okay because I was allowed to pet his nose. His friend, however, kept his distance and watched me warily.

The drive home was memorable. We had taken Paige's Yukon and she put a large piece of plastic in the back (just in case). The animals were loaded but did not settle down, and due to stress began spitting cud all over the car. We found some on the ceiling and on the rear-view mirror! As we drove, we expected them to lie down but they remained on their feet for the entire 45 minute drive to Paige and Jim's house, freely letting loose with their bowels and bladders the entire time. This is NOT supposed to happen with these animals. The poor things then had to stand in it while we drove and we had the enjoyable experience of getting acquainted with alpaca aromas. When we got to their house we picked up my car and Jim drove the Yukon up here to unload the babies. Paige said as soon as he got behind the wheel, they lay down and were calm for the entire trip. She claims it's because she's a terrible driver (I didn't notice it, but as we were chatting the whole time I wasn't exactly paying attention). It was dark when we got here so we unloaded them directly into the barn where 6 goats very warily circled and inspected the new arrivals. Erin stayed in the back of the barn - she didn't get it.

They all seem to be getting along fine today, although every so often they seem to remember that something's new and everyone starts the circling and observing process. The only real difficulty we've had so far is the alpacas chasing Eppie out of the corral. Apparently they considered her to have predator status and they showed me exactly how well they do their job. They tore after her and poor Eppie didn't know whether to escape through the fence or try to defend herself. She was terrified and I had to do a lot of comforting afterward, but if any bad guys ever try to gain entrance to the corral, I have no fears that they'll be able to make off with any of our little ones. These guys mean business!

We haven't decided on names yet. Katy and I discussed the possibility of Bruiser and Fang, but they're so darn cute it seems mean to label them with those monikers. Now we're considering Greek gods. Any ideas?