Changes

It has been a time of change around here this week, both sad and happy.
First we lost our beloved goat, Iva, after a short battle with illness. My heart has been heavy with guilt and sadness, but we were quickly faced with finding a companion for Iva's buddy, Milton, who has never been alone. He's a bit of a surly fellow so I searched for a friend who could handle his moods. He's been getting lots of extra attention in the meantime, accompanying us on a blackberry picking excursion down the hill.

Mmmm, blackberries!

Introducing Stella! She's a 2 year old milk goat, a mixture of breeds, and very sweet. She rode home in the back of the SUV like a champ and seems pretty at ease with this crazy place. Also she loves to eat! So far the goats have butted heads gently in greeting, but I'm keeping them separated for the most part until she's settled.

 

She's a first-time freshener meaning she kidded and is now being milked for the first time this year. My goat milking experience is pretty limited, so it has been a learning experience for us both. After my first attempt, I quickly set to building a milking stand.

It'll take some time to adjust to the new routine of 8am and 8pm milkings, but so far it has been great. Her milk just tastes like milk, not the pungent tang I was expecting. I'm pasteurizing it for now, until I feel more confident about my own sanitary practices and the goat's health. She's not producing enough for cheese or ice cream yet, but I'm hoping the boost in grain and regular milkings will up her supply and provide enough for recipe experimenting.
Another bright spot of the week was finding a new home for two of our roosters. The flock of seven baby chicks produced two new roosters, and four roosters quickly proved too many. I posted the two oldest on craigslist, and this nice couple came to collect them.

We have a strict don't-ask-don't-tell policy with chickens we give away, but hopefully they're ruling a harem of hens somewhere.
This hot summer has really given us permission to relax a little more than usual in the afternoons because it's way too hot to do much of anything outdoors. These are the times I will remember when I think back to summer.

Sharing popcorn with Pepper.

Everybody needs a little time away

The summer weekends slip away, lost to yard work and errands, so much so that I deliberately schedule in fun or we'd never leave our yard. This past weekend Alex and I got away for a bit--our first time away from Ole in who-knows-how-long. We didn't travel far, just two hours north to Olympia, where Grandma and Grandpa whisked Ole away for a fun night of spoilage and lavish attention.
So we hit the town, bar-hopping and browsing shops, foregoing schedules and meals, surviving on hors d'oeuvres and desserts. It was great.



Olympia's a very mural-friendly town!

Washington's beautiful state capital

The nighttime view from our hotel. Capitol Lake is in the distance.

We went out for breakfast, wandered through the farmers' market, and browsed antique shops. 

The only photo of us. I'm not sure what's going on with my shirt there.

The capitol building looms in every scenic view.

Back at home I tackled a tasty problem...too many cherries! The neighbors graciously offered to let us pick our fill of sweet cherries from their bountiful tree and we did. I spent the next two days pitting with the awesome Oxo cherry pitter and froze several quarts. I also dried two full trays in the food dehydrator. Then I got creative and made Bourbon-soaked cherries and canned the rest in a yummy syrup with vanilla and lemon. Sweet!

Spring chickens

This long warm spring has been so lovely. It has felt much more leisurely than our usual rush to shove plants in the ground before it's too late. Perhaps it's just that we're more settled here now. We have established garden beds, planter boxes, and a set routine to spring. Zinnias, broccoli, kale...check!

And of course there are the chicks. They are gangly and flighty teenagers now, probably not appreciating all the attention they receive. Luckily they're sturdy little things. They've ridden on bicycles, gone down roller coasters, and sat on heads more times than I can count.

One particularly warm afternoon they had their first day in the sun.

 
 

Ole's excitement grew and grew. Let the circus begin!

 

 

And just like that his attention went elsewhere and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

All my peeps

We'd been keeping vigil for twenty-one days when we heard a muffled peeping coming from the incubator. A tiny hole appeared in each shell. Then a long crack in one, methodically chipped all the way around. A wet orb emerged, unfurling into a dark chick. We ooohed and cheered and squealed at the magic of it all.

Bedtime came, and we peeled ourselves away,one tiny chick's eyes following us from inside the incubator. I slept fitfully and finally slipped down to check on them in the wee hours. Hooray! Seven new baby chicks fully hatched and smushed together.

We made a morning trip to the local feed and seed for a heat lamp bulb and fresh bag of pine shavings, then moved the chicks to their new home. Once they'd dried and warmed, they mulled around pecking and scratching like pros.

These are the best days--cuddling their soft fluff , noticing the changes day by day, playing silly chick games. The best!

 

 

 

These days

Spring is just the best. We're getting into the swing of running outside when the weather is nice, saving inside work and play for the rainy days. It seems that overnight Ole grew into all the playground equipment, opening up a whole new world of fun.

Worm digging has been our other major spring pastime--much to the delight of the chickens.

We tore ourselves away from home-sweet-home this weekend for two 4-year-old birthday parties. Oh boy! The first was a princess party with Princess Ana from Frozen. Ole was glued to my lap and not at all impressed to see a genuine princess.

"Mom, look! There's candy!"

The next party got him off my lap! Fun with bubbles, balloons, and dinosaurs.

We also had a good day recently at Portland's aquarium (meh) and Bob's Red Mill (awesome) with our friend Stephanie.

And of course we're keeping it loose with yoga.

Then there was that day Ole decided to mail himself to the North Pole. 

Boots, rope, and BunBun? He'll be fine!

Finally, I thought I'd give a behind the scenes peek of our mead bottling operation. There's a batch of dry honey wine, one of blackberry, and one of rhubarb. And I learned a new word! Melomel--a mead that contains fruit. Who knew!



Aloha oe

We're nearly two weeks back from our family vacation to Maui. The tan has already faded and that blissed out holiday feeling is long gone, but we're left with photos. Photos and delicious Kona coffee!

The view from my beach towel

We all enjoyed our visit to the aquarium. They had one of those cool glass tunnels where fish and sharks swam past on all sides and beneath. Plus lots of crazy ass fish, seahorses (my favorite), jellyfish, sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, and octopuses.

We spent a great deal of time at our hotel pool which was pretty great.

And the beach!

We saw an astonishing number of humpback whales jumping and blowing and splashing. Every time we looked at the ocean, I swear, another whale was making a scene.

Getting wild at the luau

Catching the last sunset of our trip

Now we're back home, greeted each day by some early spring snowbells and that smooth Kona coffee.