The Miracle of Birth.

After several weeks of watching and waiting, our first baby goat has arrived!  Wyatt’s goat Dizzle gave birth last night, unassisted, to a healthy baby girl.

The new mama is doing a great job.  She is attentive and protective, yet willing to let us come in and handle the baby.  I’m fairly certain she is enjoying all the extra love the kids are giving her as well.

Although we missed the delivery of the doeling, the kids did get a chance to witness the rest of the birthing process.  It was their first birth at the farm and an awesome educational moment.  Much like my own childhood, we didn’t miss an opportunity for an impromptu science lesson!  Birth is messy & miraculous, and to have the chance to expose our children to such a fundamental part of life was great.  They’ve seen death on the farm, and now they have also witnessed life. I think that it is very grounding for our children to be exposed to the cycle of life.  They had lots of questions for us and we tried to make our answers simple enough for them to understand but thorough.  They were all amazed that Dizzle would eat the placenta and afterbirth, we explained that it was full of protein and nutrients that would help her take care of the baby.

I’m sure we will take too many pictures of this little black doeling! By the way, we named her Jane, after Jay’s mom who’s birthday was yesterday!

 

The Miracle of Birth.

You are here.

Well, I don’t know if you are here, but I am here and I want to be there ”where the magic happens”.  So here, I go.  Yet, I am held at the border by my fears and insecurities.  I stand at the line, with two parts of myself moving opposite directions.  One half of me, with arms thrown out, yells at the top of her lungs, “We are here!” and is exalted one foot extended across the line, the other half of me rubs her hands together and looks over her shoulder saying nothing, but wondering if we shouldn’t just turn around an go back.

I am tired of being fearful. I am exhausted by my insecurities. I am tired of trying to fit the mold, of worrying over what other people will say or think, of keeping up with what is trendy.  I’m not terribly good at it, and my energy is better spent elsewhere.  We have made so many changes in the past year in our family life, each a step closer to where we want to be.  And each is a step farther from our comfort zone and closer to the place where the magic happens.

 

You are here.

Are you a google+ user?  You can now find The Farm on Kenyon Road on blogger.com!  Just visit here.

 

A Long Weekend on the Homestead.

The sprouted wheat, dried and ready to grind! Notice the crackled appearance of the berries. We ground this into flour and have used it for a cake and waffles so far. The unused flour is stored in an airtight container in our freezer. I have to say, the claims about sprouted flour seem to be true! It has a distinct flavor and is very filling.

Drying ziplock bags. Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle!

Grinding meat. We then seared & canned this venison. Perfect for casseroles! This is the kind of no-fuss, instant cooking I can use!

My canning operation. That pressure canner will hold 19 quarts at one time. It was an investment, but it has paid for itself already in the amount of time it has saved me!

Saturday afternoon we hiked in our woods, although the wind was blustery, the temperatures hadn’t dropped yet and I told the kids we had to take advantage of the warm weather!

After a day of hiking, games, and family everyone climbed in bed with me to read. It really is the best way to end a day, surrounded by children who love a good story!

The hoop house is ready for end walls and plastic. Now, I just have to patiently wait for the weather to cooperate. It is a blessing I’m more than happy to be patient for.

Snow falling as the cold creeps our way.

This mama is ready to have her babies! I misjudged how close she was to kidding, but now when I look at her I know it will be soon. After birthing 4 children myself you kind of have a sixth sense for this thing, or maybe a touch of mama to mama sympathy.

Breakfast.

We finished up the long weekend with a trip to the Science-Play-Space-Iniative. A great place to take your children in downtown Mt Vernon. Here the kids are experimenting with gel beads. The beads grow when you add water, sink in tap water, and float in salt water!

Sunset! We have lived in the woods always, and recently thinned out some of the trees when we built our pond. This is the first winter that I have been able to see a sunset from our house. The kids reaction was priceless, they were shouting out colors and had their noses pressed against the window trying to see as much of it as they could.

Read this book, take time to be quiet, and let me know what you think!

A Long Weekend on the Homestead.

This could be the new economy.

“Farmers markets, I began to realize, heal the edges of our uber-industrialized economy, allowing a less chemical-and fossil fuel- intensive economy to flourish.  They heal our relationships with each other as we reconfigure the buying and selling of food around fresh air and community.  Most importantly, they heal our spirits, because if something pays, it stays, and those of us at the market that morning sensed we were voting with our dollars for a kind of independence:  the right to farm. . . . . “This could be the new economy, ” I said. “Healthy, community-centered.”   -from Twelve by Twelve by William Powers

 

This is just one excerpt from Power’s book that I have underlined, in fact it is starting to resemble one of my text books from college.  For me, this is the kind of book where when I underline something, I also say, “yes!” out loud and scare my children, I tap my toes, I jump up out of my chair and pace around the room because I’ve been energized by the words, thoughts, and convictions of this man.  Please, put this book on your 2013 “books I must read” list!

 

This could be the new economy.