I can feel my heart soaking in the days right now. My heart always knows when the winds of change are blowing.
We have enjoyed the craziness that is our family at Christmas. This year I wasn’t stressed out about what to buy, or what tree goes where. I was intentionally low key, calm and allowed myself to enjoy the season a bit more. There is a significant privilege in having all the kids and grandkids in one place on Christmas morning. It may not always be that way, that is just the changes of life. But, for a couple of hours, everyone was together. That was the best Christmas present I could have received.
In my head I already know that Christmas next year will look different. I don’t know exactly how, but it will be different. So, as I took down the trees this year, I tried to imagine how next year would look, tried to figure out how to mesh the “big house” decorations with the “farm” life. I eventually gave up, it is just too much to try to figure out how life will change. I just need to understand that it will change and be ready to trust God with the details.
We have battled for the life of another goat, and so far it looks like we will win this one! Mighty Liberty gave us a good scare, endured a LOT of penicillin shots, but seems to be on the mend. It’s a good thing I love him, because he STINKS!!! But the girl goats like it!
We have carried on with the ever present barn duties. Here are some interesting tidbits we have learned lately:
ducks will eat goat feed, goats will eat duck feed
chickens will cross the creek to come find out if our bugs are tastier than their normal ones
chickens will eat goat feed AND cat food!
Ducks will chase chickens AND goats away from their food bowl.
It is infinitely easier to put all the goats away in their stalls and feed the ducks first, because if we don’t, the barn is so loud with quacking ducks and or chickens being chased by ducks that communication between farmhands is impossible!
Our area has broken many rainfall records in 2018 – easy to believe as we wade through the mud to get to the noisy barn! Thankful for new rain/mud boots.
As January begins we are putting away the Christmas decorations, TRYING to finish that water trough project somehow, getting ready for kidding season (looks like we should have a few babies in the next few weeks), trying to work out a garden plan, contemplating a high tunnel, and working to balance farm life with the rest of life.
2019 – another adventure!
brandnewfarmers 