Farm Life

Farm Life

Susan has blogged about Firefly's triplets HERE. It was an adventurous night, primarily for Susan and the girls - I believe they finally made it to bed at around 3am. Of course part of the "excitement" stemmed from the fact that this is the first time for us and so there is is fair amount the "new parent" stress going on. But we have lots of good advice and support from some local more experienced goat ranchers and so things are going quite smoothly. Susan is getting the kids acclimated to taking a bottle and they improve daily, but even still it is making for a good deal of work. I should also note that we've already run into communication problems in utilizing the word "kids."

There's a heatwave going on right now and yesterday we got the mercury (or alcohol) up near 90. Between caring for the "kids", addressing a "left-open" freezer emergency, and tilling up a section of the garden (BY HAND!) for sowing, I spent the day sweating and enjoying the otherwise beautiful day. Yes, it was another one of those days where I relish my choice of lifestyle. A million little projects are still left undone, but the season dictates to us now - especially on days like this one.

While tilling the soil I was accompanied by a Robin who was delighted to be helping him/herself to the worms I was exposing. He or she must have come and gone 20 times. A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers were doing some sort of mating ritual dance along the trunk of one of the trees in the woods behind me, causing quite a racket. I had to admit to myself (once again) how very much I enjoy this sort of work. I'm still trying to grasp why I find it so satisfying though I suppose much of it comes from the idea of working solely for yourself and for your family and of course the natural high that accompanies good old fashioned sweat labor. However, given the unusual heat, I tired quickly.

During one of the frequent breaks I took, leaning on my shovel and fanning myself with a straw hat, I watched Kelsey as she brought the kids out of the barn to their little pasture and I had to laugh at their attempts at the frolicking which will soon be apart of the everyday life. A day old and they know already that they ought to be having some FUN in this big foreign world.

We also planted some cherry trees that our dear friend Rade had given us. So we have ourselves a nice little orchard that includes three cherries, an Italian Plum, a Peach, and three apple trees. The apples are already producing, but I've no idea how many years we'll have to wait for the others. Plenty more gardening yet to do, and time is wasting.

The season also calls for firewood collection, but I'll admit I am apprehensive because of my most recent back injury - being of a different kind that I was unfamiliar with, I'm concerned. We'll see about that.

Then off we went to hit the grocery store and the Feed Store before Vespers. Straightway home after Church to stack some charcoal in the chimney so as to roast some of John Johnson's cow in the form of delicious burgers. The smell of roasting meat, the sun setting, the temperature evolving into some semblance of comfort, prayers sung, and sitting down with a cool IPA all topped off a very nice day.