It seems every time I think about updating, something pulls me away from it. Not much to keep you all updated on, yet there is a lot of goings on around the place, too.
The arrival of little lambs and kids has been the highlight of the last few weeks, but we also lost some animals. Our Ivy Rose could not deliver her kids and as much as I tried to get them free, it didn't happen. We ended up putting her down to end her agony. I was so upset to lose her as well as her kids. During the month of January, we ended up with a total of two lambs and four kids. Nellie was also put down due to sickness and injury.
February should bring four more does to labor: Jersey, Juniper, Kahlua, and Serenade are all due this month. Meanwhile, two ewes are also due to deliver soon: Sage and Basil.
Problems seem to pop up here and there and you can believe me when I say it is extremely frustrating to have health issues pop up in livestock: especially livestock which are harder to catch and handle. Our cow, Lilly, has an abscess under her ear on her parotid lymph node. And just today I found a hard abscess on our little ram lamb's jaw. A lamb is easy enough to get to a vet, but a cow that doesn't care to be handled is a bit more of a job. And to add trouble to it all, none of the veterinarians seem to know what in the world a zebu is. I try to explain that they are an ancient breed of cattle, but apparently all they can give me is another vet to take them to.
Al has been keeping busy organizing his shop, adding gravel to the driveways and paths into pastures, and other little projects like chimney repair and finishing our coat closet. He is still working for Innovatec, but has cut his hours by 20% in order to be around more for work. We were able to pay off the loan for the house, and my name is being added to the title since it was not done a few years back. So long as taxes and insurance are paid each month, the house remains ours.
Andrew moved out early January and visits off and on to help out with things. He seems to be very happy working for Toyota. The kids miss him a lot and look forward to his visits.
The last I heard from Rebekah, she informed me she would be moving to Maryland with her housemates at the end of the month. She is looking to transfer from her job at Target, to another Target near where she will be moving to. I hope it works out well considering how hard it is to start fresh with a new job search.
Alexandra is trying to get used to the heavier load of schoolwork associated with highschool. While I am not trying to mimic a public school, I am trying to work toward covering some basis that I think are important. So, she is currently taking world geography, nutrition science, Arkansas state history, language arts, geometry, history, biology, and of course Bible. Bible and history is done as a family unit. She seems to enjoy what we are studying. I also included the vintage Arkansas history textbook I bought last year, into her class work. The idea is for her to regulate her own schedule for how many days a week she wants to do each subject. She has to get them completed to move on. Some subjects are supposed to be done every day.
Abigail and Hannah are pushing through their work as well, most days they get it all done, but on occasion, Hannah will not do her math because she doesn't like it.
Caleb's neuro-feedback seems to be working and we are seeing changes for the better. He is quicker to apologize and seems to be more agreeable. Most cases, we can talk to him and get him to think about what he did, or is doing, and change the behavior. It doesn't mean that he doesn't have issues any more, he certainly still has his spells. For the most part, his destructive behavior has dramatically been reduced. The only destructive thing I can think of lately that he did was cut the strings on the blinds. Funny part about his doctor visits is if he is angry, he tells me he is not going to his appointment. He also tells me he thinks his back hurts and he needs another adjustment. I have to tell him to wait until the next week.
My days begin anywhere between six and 7:30. I try to get out to milk the goats by 8:30, but have often had to wait until the bread is done baking. Now I have to add bottle feeding a little ram lamb to the mix because he isn't getting enough milk from his mom. The ewe lamb seems to be doing fine in comparison. I switched Caleb's appointments to late morning so we can have an uninterrupted day of school. Unfortunately, the change means kids need to change their way of doing things on a school day, and some don't want to. I find myself pretty tired by the end of the day.
I anticipate growing season, but am nervous as well. I have so many plans yet know it isn't what I play, but the Father's plans that matter. I would like to get some seeds in the ground soon for some cool weather crops. I hope to get something growing for eating by spring or soon after. It has been frustrating feeding this family of mine. They are very picky eaters when it comes to veggies. They say, "we like veggies raw". I bring salad to the table and they only eat two mouthfuls! They say, "Oh, I only like cabbage raw, but when I serve it along salad, the bowl of cabbage hasn't a dent in it! Plus, the jars of green beans I canned last year turned out horribly disgusting and stringy. I attribute this to the dry weather we had.
At any rate, not much else to offer for updates. I hope all is well with you. I'll attach a few photos to make it more interesting, but some of you have probably seen them already.
Blessings!
